The Other Side
by Kyandi-Akatensei
Summary: Sequel to Flip Side. Hikari is gone, left without explanation but the boys don't have time to ponder it. The U-17 World Cup is just around the corner and with familiar faces on competing teams the boys' friendships will be tested. But there's a dark horse in the tennis world from an unlike country. Who is this fierce and determined leader at the head of this team? Various pairings
1. Never Far From My Thoughts

_**Summary**_: Sequel to Flip Side. Hikari is gone, left the camp without any explanation, but the boys don't have time to ponder it. The U-17 World Cup is just around the corner and with familiar faces on competing teams, the boys' friendships will be tested. But there's a new dark horse in the tennis world from an unlikely country and who is this fierce and determined leader at the head of this team?

Kyandi: Hey, everyone! For those of you who are new, I'm Kyandi-sama! And this is the sequel to my story Flip Side. If you haven't read it, then go do so!

Shunsuke: It's a long story.

Kyandi: But the chapters are short, so hush. Everyone this is one of my OCs, Higarashi Shunsuke. He was a back ground character in Flip Side.

Shunsuke: But now I'm being brought to the forefront! I'm just that good looking.

Kyandi: Oh whatever! Ignore him everyone. Everyone does. His younger brother, Higarashi Haruhi will be joining us too.

Haruhi: Hello...

Kyandi: But enough of that. Lets move on.

Shunsuke: Everyone enjoy and review.

Haruhi: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 1 Never Far From My Thoughts

Forever sloping roads, slanted roof topped building, and a kind of people much more ruthless then that of his own. Tezuka Kunimitsu knew when he saw amount of work he was being, not asked to do, but told to do, that he had come to the right place. Germany had greeted Tezuka with increased work loads in his training and he was glad for it.

Why, one might asked?

The answer to this question remained back in Japan, was small, fiery, hard headed, and had hair as white as snow and silver eyes that saw far too much. Yes, that's right. Tezuka Kunimitsu was glad for the mind-numbing increase in training he was enduring, not because of the peak physical condition it put him in...but because it got his mind off of the young girl who had seemed to steal his attention away from tennis; Higarashi Hikari.

Since his arrival in Germany, no even before then. Since his departure from Japan, he had not heard a single word from Hikari. There had been calls and texts from his other friends he had left behind but none from Hikari who use to text him for no other reason then that she could. Tezuka wanted to feel a little hurt, a little stung by this but he knew he had brought it on himself.

Higarashi Hikari, middle school first year and a true daughter of international companies, had a revenge streak a mile wide and enjoyed her retaliation for things she viewed as wrongs dealt to her and those she cared for.

And Tezuka had dealt the biggest wrong to her.

He had betrayed her trust in him, had all but told her she was no good and would never make it in the tennis pro world, and had left her standing there without another word. Thinking back on how he dealt with the situation, he knew he had handled it wrong. Horribly wrong.

Somewhere along the line, Tezuka had greatly began to care about the well being of his female teammate. What hurt her, what could cause her pain or grief, what she would need to lead a full life...he found he started to care more then a mere captain or upperclassman should. He had seen Hikari at her best and he had seen her at her worst. He knew what it looked like when the girl hurt and the mere thought twisted at his heart. He didn't want to see her like that again. It had been that thought that had drove him to say what he had said.

He just wished he had thought his words through a little more before he spoke them. And now it was too late. Hikari refused to answer any of his calls and texts until just yesterday, when he tried to call, the line picked up to a cheerful automatic message telling him that the number he had dialed, was no longer in service.

Naturally, Tezuka was concerned but with the amount of training work he had, he hadn't yet managed to call one of his friends to find out if she was alright or if she had simply switched her number to avoid him. More then likely it was the latter, in which case he really felt like he had finally pushed a wrong button with Hikari. She had always been a bit harder to read then most girls, but she had always been rather patient with him.

Except for the one time at Nationals when she had actually slapped him. She hadn't been so patient then.

He wasn't exactly sure why it effected him so, though he was starting to figure it out. He would admit, if only to himself, that he was starting to care more for Hikari then a captain or upperclassman should. So perhaps Atobe had been right when he once had hinted at Tezuka having romantic feelings for Hikari. Tezuka wasn't admitting that. But nor was he denying it. Hikari certainly wasn't like other girls.

Tezuka gave himself a mental shake to draw his head out of that line of thinking. He was in the middle of training and couldn't have his head centered around the white haired, silver eyed queen of the courts who was starting to take up more room in his thoughts then he had open to give.

Running up the sloping streets of Germany was a mind consuming task as it was. One wrong step and he could fall backwards and end up rolling all the way back down the sloped length of the sidewalk. Not a pleasant thought to Tezuka who was still getting use to it. His training partner though, a pro and the German U-17 captain, Jurgen Valicevic Volk, was use to it and while Tezuka huffed and puffed his way after his partner, Volk remained un-effected, his breathing normal. The two wound their way through the streets, taking a path they had taken every time they had gone running. Tezuka had to concentrate on keeping his breathing even and on keeping up with Volk.

Finally, with relief, they came to a stop. Tezuka braced his hands on his knees as he took sharp, but deep breaths, trying to calm his breathing and the rapid beating of his heart while he could. Volk took a swing of his water before noticing the half bent over position Tezuka was in. He half turned to the middle school boy.

"What's wrong? You exhausted already, Kunimitsu?" he asked in German.

The man had given Tezuka very little to no down time since his arrival. It was almost as if he was constantly testing Tezuka to see how far the Japanese boy would push for his dream. Tezuka hadn't yet given him a reason to doubt him. He did everything Volk asked. Mostly because it kept him busy. Tezuka looked up at the man, with the same determined but stoic expression he always wore.

"No." he replied flatly.

"Good, then let's keep going." Volk replied with a satisfied nod of his bald head. Tezuka replied with a quick, "Yes, sir." and followed as Volk took off once more.

It was this way everyday. Intense training through out the day and then Tezuka would have a hour at night in which to keep up with his studies. If he was any less the student then he was, he probably would have fallen behind. Thankfully he hadn't, despite the many distractions in his brain.

Volk glanced back at his young training partner, glad to see the boy wasn't lagging despite obviously being tired. He liked Tezuka's spunk and determination. Given enough time, training, and experience, he would make a good pro.

Time would tell.

When the two arrived back at the building for the Tennis Association of Germany, he sent Tezuka off for more training while he reported to a meeting with the other representatives of Germany. When the others had gathered, he started the meeting with QP, a high school second year and another representative, at his side.

"We, the German Representatives, are aiming for our ninth consecutive U-17 World Cup championship. This year, for the first time since the establishment of this team, there will be five pros participating!" Volk announced to those listening.

"Any athlete who comes in here with arrogance or anxiety...will be kicked off the team!" he added before letting QP take over.

"Continuing on, I have new data regarding our rival countries. As expected, special attention must be paid to the Swiss. As a current pro, their acting captain, Amadeus, is just the beginning. Judging by the abundance of talent on their team, they're number one in terms of over all strength." QP said, shuffling papers.

"France's Camus is a creative tactician. With his entry, there will probably be a huge shift in how tennis is played around the world." he added.

"What about America, QP?" Volk asked. QP pulled up a picture of the team, featuring their captain in the forefront.

"We should pay special attention to Reinhardt's remarkable mental strength and his leadership abilities. There are a number of other players of interest amongst them as well." QP answered.

"After them, places like Japan are starting to acquire more power." he added.

Volk looked up at the other male at this, his mind going to Tezuka for a brief moment.

"There is one other team of interest that is currently featuring two pros amongst their ranks." QP added.

Volk looked up as QP brought up a picture of a team clad in the hooded, blue and white jerseys of the Greece flag. The members ranged from a very small and slight boy standing jut a little over five feet to a tall and muscled male towering a over a good foot taller then that small boy. Every member of the team, save for two, had their hoods up and pulled so far forward, it hid their faces from view.

The two with their hoods down were the ones QP drew attention to.

One of the two was a tall boy, lean and slightly willowy in frame with thick, sleeked back, black hair that had a pair of sunglasses neatly perched among the locks. He was good looking, as the other boy was, and had eyes of a light silver in color.

"Pro and high school third year, Shunsuke Higarashi. Of Japanese and Greek descent, he's playing for the Greek team this year. Some have written him off because he's not entirely serious but he has a strong Counter Puncher style and has a high store of stamina and speed. He's a bit hot headed though." QP told them before turning to the other boy.

This boy was slightly shorter the Shunsuke with a more stockier built. Still good looking with a mess of snow white curls on his head and eyes just as silver as Shunsuke's. The two had the same handsome facial features and were obviously brothers. QP's next words confirmed that.

"This is his younger brother. Pro and high school first year, Haruhi Higarashi. Meek and a bit of push over in personality, but he's a strong power player with deadly aim. He hits what he aims to hit, no matter what gets in the way. His mental strength in on the low side though." QP added.

"And the others?" Volk asked, looking over the team in the picture.

"The only other information I was able to gather is more of a rumor. Rumor has it they have a couple of players who excel past the Higarashi brothers. One is even been called a Mental Ninja. The team is being called the Dark Horse of this year's U-17 World Cup." QP told him.

The Dark Horse.

An underdog that the masses were cheering for. They would probably receive more support from the crowd then any other team. But what really stuck in Volk's head was that it seemed Japanese players were popping up in several teams this year including Germany with Tezuka, and America, with a high schooler named Ryoga, and now Greece with the Higarashi brothers.

It would be an interesting year, that was for sure.

-0-0-0-0-

_Pong...pop...pong...pop..._

Tezuka listened to the sounds of tennis balls meeting a racket gut and then bouncing off the court around as he fed more balls to the tennis player opposite of him. Though he was focused enough to continue feeding the balls to Volk, the majority of his mind was focused on something completely different. An image of the laughing and smiling, white haired girl flashed before his mind's eye and Tezuka tightened the muscles of his jaw.

He had been thinking of Hikari again, his mind flying back to the look on her adorable face when he had left her at the camp. If it hadn't been for the stoic mask and iron control he had gained from his grandfather, then he might have turned around and he might have, gods help him, hugged her. But he hadn't. He was tired of seeing Hikari hurt and knowing that he was part of the reason why. A man could only take feeling like an abusive jerk for so long. Of course now he felt like a completely different kind of jerk.

He didn't think Hikari would ever forgive him for the words he had said.

Tezuka's jaw muscled tightened another fraction of an inch at that thought. He didn't want Hikari to be forever angry with him. He had never cared much before, but he cared where Hikari was concerned. He cared too much. Tezuka tried yanking his mind from the thoughts and focus on feeding the balls.

Volk could see Tezuka trying to pull part of his mind away from other thoughts to focus on the task at hand. He saw this in the younger male quite a bit actually. It wasn't that Tezuka wasn't focusing. He was. He just wasn't focusing all of his attention. Part of Tezuka's mind was centered on something completely different. Tezuka never shared and Volk never asked. It wasn't his business. What was his business was having Tezuka focusing completely on the task at hand.

"Focus, Kunimitsu." Volk called across the courts.

Tezuka snapped to attention, doing as told. He sat thoughts of Hikari aside and turned his full mind to his assigned task. He could revisit the thoughts later when he was in his own room. Off the court, an old man with a walking cane, approached the court where another man stood observing Tezuka and Volk.

"Who's the Japanese guy feeding balls to Volk?" the old man asked. The observing man turned to him.

"Siegmund Pupke." the man said, seeing the old man, who smiled in return, still waiting for an answer.

"Kunimitsu Tezuka. He came here from Japan in order to become a pro." The younger man told Siegmund.

"Oh, I see...A pro...though, for Volk to be using such a boy as his training partner..." Siegmund trailed off as he watched the two on the court.

On court Volk turned to Tezuka as the younger male picked up another ball out of the ball cart, ready to feed it to Volk.

"Kunimitsu...why don't you try playing now." Volk suggested, much to the surprise of those around them.

Tezuka didn't argue. He removed the ball cart from the court and took up his serving stance, Volk ready to receive.

"They're having a match? Guess I'll watch to see if he really has what it takes to be a pro." Siegmund remarked, chuckling to himself as he watched.

"Come, Kunimitsu." Volk ordered. In reply to the order, Tezuka served.

He had barely taken a step when the returned ball hit the court just a foot from his right foot. Tezuka yanked his right foot up in an instinctive response to the ball's sudden reappearance on his side of the court. Siegmund heaved a sigh and shook his head. So far it didn't look that good. Volk on the other hand knew Tezuka could do better.

"Don't play the match so absent-mindedly! Concentrate! Whatever you're thinking of, set it aside!" Volk demanded of Tezuka.

Tezuka caught himself thinking, "_It's not that easy to set thoughts of Higarashi aside_.". He instantly gave himself a mental shake, pushing even that thought aside. He needed to focus and forget about Hikari for a moment. He gave a curt, "Yes sir", gathering his energy around in, using his Muga no Kyochi.

Siegmund was surprised by this, watching Tezuka with renewed interest.

"He condensed all of his power into his left arm..." Siegmund said in shock.

Volk returned the shot with a two handed hit, aiming the ball to Tezuka's left. But before the ball could reach it's spot, it curved, heading out of the court, Tezuka not even blinking as the out was called.

"He put a massive spin on the ball, so that it'll force the shot out..." Siegmund exclaimed, impressed and shocked all in one.

From then on Tezuka was able to play the match, even if Volk still had the upper hand, using two hands in all of his returns.

"That's the way, Kunimitsu! Intimidating your opponent early on in the match while attacking will give you an advantage! Wrong! Think about the position of your grip and elbow! Your attacks are too bland! You need to consistently out think you opponent! You get too despondent when your attacks fails! Being able to get over it is also a skill!" Volk yelled across the court to Tezuka.

Tezuka was huffing and having to brace a hand on his knee by the time Volk was done and approached the net.

"Thank you...for the match." Tezuka said, looking up at Volk who was no where near the state that Tezuka was in.

"You don't train your legs and lower half enough. That's why your shots start to waver in the second half. Now go and do three hundred straight dashes!" Volk ordered Tezuka who gave a firm nod and instantly turned to do as told with another, "Yes, sir.".

Siegmund watched the young male walk away to do as he was told. Volk noticed Siegmund then as he took a seat on the bench, picking up a towel to wipe his face.

"Hey there, Siegmund. Are you here to get the contract renewal signed?" Volk asked.

"Yeah...but there's something too, Volk...I'd like to offer "Kunimitsu Tezuka" a pro contract as part of Siegmund Inc." Siegmund replied.

Volk looked up at Siegmun, his expression unreadable as he did. The younger German man got to his feet and turned to watch Tezuka as he jogged off.

"He has absolutely no experience playing against top class players. If he were to become a pro now, he'd be run ragged. Let's have this discussion when Kunimitsu has reached the next level. After we've won the U-17 world cup as the representatives of Germany." Volk replied.

Silently he added, "_And after he takes care of whatever is dividing his attention._"

-0-0-0-0-

By the time Tezuka had finished his training and made it back to his room after dinner, he was ready to shower, do his school work, and go to bed. Training with his team back at Seigaku had never been this tough. Even training at the U-17 camp seemed tamed compared to the constant work he was given here.

Tezuka shed his jersey, hanging it from the back of his desk chair before gathering his clothes for a shower. He was just about to head for the bathroom when his phone rang. Tezuka sat his stuff down on the foot of the bed and picked up his phone. Oishi's name blinked up at him from the screen of his phone. Tezuka answered and heard the worry in Oishi's tone when he greeted Tezuka, but it was Oishi's words that froze him.

"Tezuka...Hika-chan left the camp."

Tezuka felt a mix of different emotions. There was concern, of course, the question of why going through his head. Then there was relief. If she wasn't at the camp then there would be no chance on him facing her during the U-17 World Cup. He felt responsible enough for Hikari's past injuries. He didn't want to be the actual cause for her getting hurt. He started to say good, but Oishi cut him off.

"And she's not home."

Tezuka froze all over again. A chill started creeping up his spine, freezing his insides as it went.

"Come again?" Tezuka asked.

"Sosuke-kun came to the camp to pick Hika-chan up. She left with him and her female friends, but when I called Hika-chan the next day, her phone number was out of service. I called Sosuke-kun instead and he told him he had no idea where Hikari went. He said he took her home, she packed her bags, and left with her friends. He doesn't know where she went." Oishi told him.

Tezuka felt himself drop to sit on his bed, the freezing of his insides increasing. He had noticed the number issue with her phone but had just assumed that she had switched numbers and had given her new number to the others, but now even her own brother, her legal guardian, didn't know where she was.

"What did he say about the phone?" Tezuka asked, thinking that Sosuke would have any new number Hikari got.

"He doesn't know. It shocked him too. And it wasn't just Hika-chan. Her female friends all changed their numbers too. Sosuke-kun and I tired their numbers after realizing Hika-chan had cut herself off. All of them had done it. Sosuke-kun is worried." Oishi replied.

So Hikari had dropped the camp, left home, cut off all communication with her home, and vanished. Tezuka felt dread form in the pit of his stomach.

"That's not all, Tezuka. Hika-chan competed for a spot in the first string here at the camp. A doubles match with Sanada-kun. She...she threw the match, Tezuka and then turned down the offer to be a representative here. She wouldn't explain any of it to us. She flat out refused to." Oishi told him.

Something was going on. Tezuka didn't know what, but he knew Hikari. She was up to something and she was doing everything in her power to make sure no one, not even her brothers, knew what until she was good and ready for them to know.

Of course it just made Tezuka weary and concerned.

Hikari, according to his friends, had become somewhat closed off after he left and had started to stick more to a high school boy named Tokugawa, then to her friends, training with him and two other high schoolers instead. Tezuka felt his stomach twist as he thought about that. It was almost as if Hikari was trading him for this Tokugawa guy. She had spent most of her training time, before and during the camp, with him and after he left she had latched on to this Tokugawa. Tezuka's stomach twist even more.

Something was going on and he didn't know what. It made him uncomfortable, especially knowing Hikari like he did. If she didn't want them knowing what she was up to until it was too late, then it would be too late. He was just going to have to wait, stay on guard, and see what came his way, because he was sure...

It was all going to come back to bite him in the back.

END

Kyandi: Take that, Tezuka! You can deal with the worry!

Shunsuke: Right! Take that, you dream crushing, little bas-

Haruhi: Shunsuke-nii!

Shunsuke: What? He deserves it.

Kyandi: That's beside the point. You can't call him names.

Shunsuke: You're no fun.

Kyandi: I know. So everyone enjoy and review!

Shunsuke: We'll be back soon as we can.

Haruhi: Farewell!


	2. The Beginning

Kyandi: Howdy everyone! Sorry I've been gone so long!

Shunsuke: You should be ashamed.

Kyandi: Whatever! I said sorry. Anyway, I know it's been a while, and I apologize. During the summer my work load increases and my access to internet, decreases. But I'm back now!

Shunsuke: That means we're back too. Right, Haruhi?

Haruhi: Right.

Kyandi: So I won't beat around the bush today. Lets get to it!

Shunsuke: Please enjoy and review.

Haruhi: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis

Chapter 2 The Beginning

The time had finally come. For the competition in the U-17 World Cup, the teams would meet in Australia. Before the actual tournament started, each country would be revealed through a series of exhibition matches called the Pre-World Cup. It was at the drawing for the matches set-up that Oishi found himself standing the middle school rep, along side Byodoin.

"Before the World Cup kicks off, they'll be taking one day to unveil all of the various countries through exhibition matches. They're calling it the "Pre-World Cup"." Byodoin said, looking somewhat professional in a suit.

"S-Sir!?" Oishi replied, sweating bullets.

Of course Oishi had gone through a drawing before, when he had taken over in Tezuka's absence, but back then he had Hikari at his side and she was always a calming influence. Not now. Oishi missed Hikari, as all of his friends did, and none of them had been able to even talk to her since she had cut off her own phone. None of them knew what the girl was doing, but they knew she would be fine. She had her female friends with her, after all.

"Each country will have a high schooler and a middle schooler pair up and send out three teams each. This seems to be for the sole purpose of familiarizing all the faces of the various countries to all the sponsors and preparing for the global marketing campaign." Byodoin told Oishi. "Some countries will use this opportunity to mask their true strength while others will show their true potential...the mind games have only begun."

As if Oishi wasn't already nervous enough. Byodoin was just adding on to it. If given the choice, Oishi would much rather be at a drawing with Hikari. At least she didn't say things that made him even more tense.

No, she saved that for the actual matches.

It was then that Oishi spotted a familiar face and left Byodoin behind to go to him.

"Te-Tezuka!?"

Tezuka looked up as Oishi came running towards him.

"Oishi." he greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Oishi asked.

"As one of the prerequisites to becoming a pro, I'm participating in the World Cup as a German Rep." Tezuka replied.

"A Ge-German Rep!? The mean the world's best team that's already won the World Cup nine times now? That kind of team...really suits you." Oishi said.

Tezuka didn't know about that, but he wanted to know something else.

"Have you heard from Higarashi?" Tezuka asked.

Oishi's expression dropped. That would be a flat out no.

"I talked to Sosuke-kun, but he still hasn't heard from her either. He said he handed her over to Hisoka-kun and the two have been out of touch since." Oishi replied.

Tezuka found himself wondering, not for the first time, what Hikari was doing. The girl's action always had confused him before, but this was really confusing. She had passed up the chance to be standing at this tournament with the Japan team and now was gone. He half wished he knew what she was thinking, but the other half of him really didn't want to know what he would find in that head of hers.

The possibilities were terrirfying.

"But you know Hika-chan. She'll be fine and will probably pop up again soon. She always does when there's a big tennis tournament." Oishi assured him. "But I can't believe we'll be facing you as an opponent. Speaking of which, wait til you hear this Tezuka! That Echizen has..."

"Well look what we've got here. 'Sup kiddos."

Tezuka and Oishi turned at the sound of a familiar voice and came face to face with Shunsuke.

"Shunsuke-kun!?" Oishi gasped.

The Higarashi brother grinned, giving them a two fingered salute in greeting. The young man, like everyone else present, was wearing a suit, but his dress shirt was unbuttoned at the throat and his tie loosened. His usual sunglasses were perched on the top of his perfectly styled hair. His eyes flickered to Tezuka and a brief look of distaste flashed across his face before he cleared it once more. Apparently the Higarashi brother didn't like Tezuka.

"What are you doing here, Shunsuke-kun?" Oishi asked.

"I'm a Greece Rep. My mother was half Greek, you know. Haruhi and I are both on the team and have even recruited Candyce's little brother, Teal. You know Candyce, right? American bumpkin, blond hair, annoying accent, goofy-looking cowboy hat always on her head. You met her during the summer trip you took to America with Hikari." Shunsuke said.

"Yeah, we remember. She's kind of hard to forget." Oishi answered.

"You're not kidding. But yeah, her little brother is on our middle school team. Good player, but a little mild-manner in my opinion." Shunsuke replied, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So, um...have you heard from Hika-chan?" Oishi asked.

Shunsuke paused, his grin faltering as he looked at the two middle schoolers before. Shunsuke frowned as he jammed his hands into his pockets. He shifted his weight onto the other foot as he considered the two and what to say.

"Look, kid, my sister has always been a bit of free spirit. She comes and goes as she pleases. We've never tried to limit that. No point. Hikari will do what she wants, when she wants. Just you wait and see, she'll be back in your life causing all kinds of grief before you know it. So don't worry about it. She's just going through a phase of rethinking what she wants to do with her future. This one here had her questioning herself for the first time since Hikaru's death." Shunsuke answered, jamming a thumb in Tezuka's direction on the last part.

As if Tezuka didn't feel bad enough about the whole mess, Shunsuke had to go and rub salt onto open wounds. Leave to Shunsuke. The man always seemed ready to take a bite out of Tezuka's otherwise good mood.

"Don't worry about Hikari. She'll turn up again. She always does." Shunsuke told them with a shrug.

He obviously wasn't the least bit concerned with the disappearance of his sister. And he knew her better than them. They would of had a reason to worry if he had worried, but he hadn't. That was good, right?

"Shunsuke! _Eínai schedón i̱ ó̱ra gia na xekiní̱sei_."

Shunsuke half turned, revealing a young boy about fourteen. The boy was tall, muscled with hard muscles. His skin tone ranged on the dark side of olive and his face had the same sharpness to it that Hikari's sometimes could have. His eyes were a coal black, like his mass of thick hair and he had one strip of fire red dyed in at his left temple. He had spoken in Greek, calling for Shunsuke with a jerk of his chin.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Looks like I better go before Pharlos pops a blood vessel." Shunsuke remarked to the two Japanese boys. "See ya later."

Shunsuke gave them a wave of his hand as he walked off to join the Greek boy, who raised an eyebrow at him, his dark eyes flickering back towards Oishi and Tezuka.

"Friends of my sister." Shunsuke replied, clapping him on the shoulder. "The one with glasses was her former captain."

The Greek boy, Pharlos, leaned to the side, staring at Tezuka in astonishment. His mouth even dropped open in awe. Why awe, they didn't know.

"That's the one that pissed her off!? He's got some balls then. The _prinkípissa_ scares me too much." Pharlos replied in heavily accented English.

"Yeah well...she scares us all." was Shunsuke replied, turning the boy and leading him to their seats.

Volk came to get Tezuka at that time, Tezuka promising to talk to Oishi later before walking off. Oishi returned to his seat next to Byodoin as the drawing started.

"At this time, we'd like to begin the draw!" an announcer said in English, calling each team up before reaching Japan.

When they reached Japan, Byodoin turned to Oishi.

"Okay, you're up, Baldy!" Byodoin said.

"I-I-I-I'm going!?" Oishi asked, pointing to himself.

Byodoin nodded and Oishi got to his feet. In his rush to get to the front, he tripped, managing to get a laugh from the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shunsuke elbow his younger companion when he laughed. Oishi reached the front without further mishap and pressed the button to get their number. A ball with the number seven on it, came rolling out, announcing their slot to be seven. Oishi turned to face the screen, only to freeze when his eyes landed on their opponent.

Germany.

Oishi returned to his seat, amidst the muttering from other reps who believed Japan was done for even before the matches started. Shunsuke leaned back in his seat, watching Oishi. He watched as Oishi rejoined Byodoin, apologizing for what he believed was a sucky draw. Byodoin assured him he did good. Shunsuke's attention turned back to announcer as they called Greece. Getting to his feet, Shunsuke set his shoulders back and put his chin up, as his father had taught him, and stalked up front with all the grace of a predator.

He heard the whispers of others as he passed. "Its one of the Higarashi brothers! They're all pros!" and "I heard they're all monsters, on and off the courts. Real vicious. Even their sister!" sounded from around him. They weren't far off, Shunsuke knew. Hikari was a real monster when she wanted to be. She could rip a person a new one in less time then it took her to do her hair. And she didn't spend much time on that.

It made Shunsuke a proud big brother.

Shunsuke gave the woman by the machine for drawing numbers, one of his charming smiles, making the woman blush, before he turned and push the button. He came up with number thirteen, putting Greece up against Chad. Shunsuke gave the two reps of the opposing team a feral grin, that had the middle schooler sinking in his seat. He returned to his seat to watch the rest of the draws.

When it was all over, Shunsuke and Pharlos found a quiet corner, and Shunsuke pulled out his cellphone, calling the first number in his call log and putting the phone to his ear. The other person answered on the second ring.

"_Well?_" they asked.

"We drew number thirteen, putting us up against Chad." Shunsuke answered.

"_Good. I have plenty of data to go off for that team._"

"And another thing." Shunsuke said. "Japan drew seven and is up against Germany."

There was silence from the other end of the phone, before a muffled yell sounded. The person on the other end had just put a hand over the phone to yell, "Castor! Watch your back hand!", before they were back.

"_Japan against Germany, huh? It'll be interesting to see how that one turns out. Return to the hotel. We have a lot to work out before the match._"

"Got it."

With that Shunsuke cut off and looked at Pharlos.

"Lets go. There's going to be a meeting." Shunsuke told him.

Pharlos nodded, falling into step beside him. Shunsuke was looking forward to seeing how this all played out. There were many surprises to come and at least one of them was going to blow the others teams out of the water.

-0-0-0-0-

"Rejoice everyone! Our opponents will be the world number one, Germany! This will be a great chance to test our mettle! We got super lucky!"

Oishi's words were met with a stark silence from his middle school teammates. For a long moment, none of them spoke and when they did, it was a reaction Oishi hadn't been hoping for.

"Go drown yourself in the silent, beautiful ocean." Kite told him.

"Oishi-san, what the hell! Talk about worst case scenario!" Kirihara exclaimed.

"You're not fooling anyone with this brave front you're trying to put up." Atobe told him, flicking him on the forehead.

"Pathetic! Of all the lottery balls you select you had to pick that one!" Sanada added in, also flicking his forehead, but with a lot more strength behind it.

"You are such an useless egg. Puri." Niou told him, jabbing Oishi in the backside, with two fingers.

Poor Oishi didn't stand a chance against the onslaught of his teammates. Byodoin had said it was a good draw. Why couldn't they see it as such, too?

"But, you know...Oishi-kun does have a point." Shiraishi said.

"It's exactly what I hoped for." Yukimura added.

"That's right." Fuji agreed.

"Now that I think about it, it's quite fortuitous really." Gin remarked.

"Basically...we find out immediately if we're gonna sink or swim." Sanada remarked.

"Fine by me." Atobe said.

Oishi was glad to see that at least a few of his teammates were on his side and thanks to them, the others agreed. As long as he didn't get poked, flicked, or prodded anymore. Inui and Yanagi, acting as managers, appeared then.

"Oh, you're all here. Akuto-sempai obtained some intel on Germany. Anyone interested?" Inui asked.

The others jumped on the chance, Atobe ordering that they all gather in Oishi's room. Much to the boy's surprise.

"Oh! One more thing!" Oishi said, stopping them all. "I saw Hika-chan's brother, Shunsuke-kun, today. He's playing on the Greek team along with Haruhi-kun and Candyce-chan's little brother, Teal-kun."

The other players looked at each other. They all knew what that meant. If Shunsuke and Haruhi were competing then there was a real chance that Hikari would come to watch them. She was always looking for a chance to watch one of her brothers' matches. There was a real chance, that they would get to see her again, very soon.

And they refused to look bad in front of her.

-0-0-0-0-

The day of the matches, saw all of the Japan boys determined to show the world what they were made of. They boarded the bus ready to go to battle.

"Tanegashima-san's gonna make it in time for the main matches, right?" Tokugawa asked, Akuto.

"He's taking a ship here, it seems." Akuto replied.

"I hope it goes all Titanic on him!" Tohno piped in, laughing at the thought of the ship sinking on Tanegashima.

"Speaking of the "Pre-World Cup", we're teaming up high schoolers and middle schoolers." Shirashi remarked.

"I want to pair up with Atobe-kun." Irie said, peering over the seat in front of him at Atobe.

"Sorry, ain't happening." Atobe replied.

"You're kidding, right!?" Irie asked.

"Hey, you and me?" Omagari asked, looking at Akutsu.

"Hey, Pompadour Four Eyes, you're teaming up with me!" Tohno said, leaning over the back of Kite's seat.

"Sorry, but I must-"

"But you'd just end up backstabbin' me anyway so no way that'd work!" Tohno added, cutting off Kite.

"I'd be happy if I got to team up with Kimi-sama." Marui said.

"Kimi-sama! Do what you gotta do to team up with Byodoin-san!" Kirihara told him.

The argument continued between the two as several of the boys pointed out who they would like to be teamed with. The argument ended, however, when Inui, dressed in a female bus guide's outfit, pointed out the exhibition center. The sight was not a pleasant one to behold. They had finally arrived at the arena where they would get their first true look at their opposing teams.

"All the other countries' players are entering the arena already!" one boy remarked.

Exiting the bus, they found their locker room, where the head coach briefed them, ending with, "Go win! That is all.". Now they would prove to Germany, and the world, that they could stand with the best. It wouldn't be easy, but nothing ever was.

-0-0-0-0-

"Huh, where's Ralph?"

Ryoma looked around at his teammates, searching for their captain, as he sat down to eat his hot dog. He was sharing a table with Ryoga and Dudu, the three waiting for Kiku to join them.

"He's off doing recon on the champions, Germany. I feel bad for your homeland having to face Germany so early." Dudu replied as Ryoma took a bite of his hot dog.

"Chibisuke, you still feeling some love for Japan~?" Ryoga asked, pointing out that Ryoma had ketchup on his cheek.

Ryoma wiped the ketchup away with the sleeve of his jersey, obviously not caring that it was getting it dirty.

"Not really." Ryoma said.

He decided not to point out that Ryoga had ketchup on his face as well. Sometimes they really were too much alike to be anything but brothers.

"Not even the slightest bit of pity for former teammates that are about to get pulverized by the champions?" Kiku asked, carrying his tray to the table.

"Not really." Ryoma replied again.

Kiku took his seat across from Ryoma, who returned to his hot dog. They were former teammates, Ryoma and the Japan team, but this was tennis. Even when they had been his teammates, he had wanted to play against and beat them all. It was made no difference in they were on the same team or not. And he was pretty sure they could hold their own, or learn a lesson from their defeat. Either way, it didn't matter to him in the least.

"Ryo-chan?"

Ryoma froze. He knew that voice, and that nickname. Only eight people in the world called him Ryo-chan and they were all in the same family. His eyes flew up, locating the person who had called him. The hot dog in his hand, slid out, hitting his tray on the table as his eyes found the person. Brilliant smile, white hair cropped short, gleaming silver eyes, and bandages wrapping up the left arm and leg.

Ryoma couldn't believe his eyes.

"Higarashi!?"

END

Kyandi: Hehe, I love cliffhangers.

Shunsuke: Yeah, well your readers hate them.

Kyandi: I know. Anyhow, we're going to translate those two Greek phrases for you all!

Shunsuke: "_Eínai schedón i̱ ó̱ra gia na xekiní̱sei_." means, "Its about to start" in Greek.

Haruhi: And "_prinkípissa_" is Greek for "princess".

Shunsuke: Which is what Hikari acts like.

Kyandi: Hikari would hurt you if she heard you.

Shunsuke...Damn it, you're right.

Kyandi: Aren't I always? Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.

Shunsuke: We'll be back soon.

Haruhi: Bye!


	3. Surprise, Surprise

Kyandi: Hey everyone! Guess who's back!

Shunsuke: After you left them with a cliff hanger.

Kyandi: Hey! I like writing cliff hangers. But I suppose I should apologize to my readers, huh?

Shunsuka: You think?

Kyandi: Fine, fine. I am so sorry everyone for leaving you hanging. I will try, **try** not to do so again.

Shunsuke: Try?

Kyandi: That's the best you're getting from me so bug someone else.

Shunsuke: You're stubborn.

Kyandi: That's the pot calling the kettle black. Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.

Shunsuke: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 3 Surprise, Surprise

"Higarashi!?"

The heads of all the American reps turned at the sound of Ryoma's surprised exclamation. Ryoma got to his feet, turning to face the person he had called. Their eyes followed his to a young girl. Ryoma was shocked as he looked her over.

The girl, at the age twelve, was lean, fit, and curved like a high school girl. The last time Ryoma had seen her, she had just cut her hair back to it's original, shorter, rat-tail hair style, she had been wearing her own personal jersey, and had been bruised and bloody with a sizable knot on her head.

That had changed.

The girl before him had grown a few inches, now putting her a good two inches taller than him. In the time since he had last seen her, her already double pierced ears had acquired another piercing and she had gained a scar on her left cheek. Ryoma remembered her bleeding from that exact same spot when he had left the U-17 camp in Japan.

What really surprised Ryoma, was her hair. She had chopped off her hair again, but this time...she had cut off the rat-tail with it. The front of her hair fell to just short of chin length, curling in around her face, but the back of the snow white mass, was chopped as short as a boy's. The cut suited her, but he was so use to seeing her with the rat-tail pulled over her shoulder, that it took him a moment to take it in.

She still wore the bandages on her left arm and leg and was currently dressed in a baggy, royal blue shirt that fell off one shoulder to reveal the silver strap of a tank top, short, black jean shorts, mid-thigh length stockings in the same blue as the shirt, and cork wedges with silver, silk ribbons. Her mother's locket hung around her neck and her father's watch shined from her left wrist.

When Ryoma stood, the girl smiled brightly, kicking back into motion, heading towards him. She instantly started circling him, looking him over from head to toe.

"I knew it was you, Ryo-chan! Looking good in the American rep jersey. I knew you'd make it." she said.

Higarashi Hikari, the only female-and basically the queen-of the empire that was the Higarashi family, was an old friend of Ryoma's from his early childhood as well as his previous teammate, and a person known for having a hand in pretty much everything. He wasn't surprised to learn she had already known he was an American representative.

Ryoma noticed, idly, that she was speaking English, and her voice had obtained a light accent since the last time he saw her. What accent it was though, he couldn't place and she traveled to so many different places with her brothers that it would have been impossible to try to place it. She continued to circle him, looking him over.

"Hey Oga-nii." she added, giving Ryoga a wave.

The older boy frowned at her. He didn't like his former nickname anymore than Ryoma liked his. Not that either of them could tell Hikari that. She had been stubborn about the nicknames since they had met when she was three.

"You actually remember that nickname?" he asked.

"If I remember Ryo-chan's, then of course I remember your's. At least I stopped calling you Booger Brain." she retorted, glancing at him with those bottomless silver eyes.

A person could stare at those eyes for hours and would never be able to pinpoint where exactly pupils turned to irises. To the naked eye her eyes simply faded from black at the very enter, to bright silver at the edges, hitting every shade of grey in-between. Ryoga remember making a _Fifty Shades of Grey_ joke one time about her eyes and getting hit upside the head for it.

Ryoga grimaced at that. When they had been little and had first met, Hikari hadn't like Ryoga much and had called him Booger Brain all the time. As they got to know each other, she had switched to call him Oga-nii claiming she had to come up with something different since his and Ryoma's names were too similar.

Hikari returned her gaze to Ryoma.

"You haven't grown at all, have you? Are you still drinking milk like Inui-sempai told you to?" she remarked.

Ryoma didn't bother replying to that. He would grow when he grew and not a moment before hand. Especially not by drinking the amount of milk Inui had wanted him to drink. He watched her instead, curious despite himself about why the girl was there when she, obviously, wasn't with the Japan team anymore.

"What are you doing here, Higarashi?" Ryoma asked.

"Are you seriously asking me that? It's a major tennis tournament, Ryo-chan, featuring all the best up-and-coming tennis players of our time from around the world. What do you **think** I'm doing here?" Hikari replied, her right hand coming up so she could tap the binding of an old, leather bound book against her shoulder.

Ryoma's eyes snagged on the book and knew instantly what the girl was doing there. Whenever she had that book in tow it meant nothing but bad news for those involved.

Sadly...he had been the one to give her the book when they were little.

"You're being a stalker again." Ryoma remarked.

Hikari came to a stop in front of him, bending slightly to put their eyes on level. One hand went to her hip and she jabbed a finger of the other hand into his chest.

"Spy! Spy! Why does everyone call me a stalker? As I've said, I prefer to be called your friendly, residental spy. I just like collecting useful facts about tennis players. Makes writing about them easier." Hikari retorted.

"You aren't friendly." Ryoma told her.

Hikari faked hurt, a hand flying to her heart as she stood up straight, her expression even appearing to be pained. The others looked at each other as Ryoga leaned back in his chair, clearly use to this kind of thing.

"I'm hurt Ryo-chan. Seriously, that was a shot right to the heart." Hikari mocked.

Ryoma ignored this too. As he usually did. He knew Hikari hadn't taken offense to his comment. She never did.

"So how are the brothers, Ri-Ri?" Ryoga asked, changing the subject.

Hikari heaved a sigh. Annoyance rang clearly in that sigh. She shoved her left hand into her hair, pushing the bangs back from her face. She looked like she had a sudden headache, her nose wrinkling as she pressed her fingers into her temple.

"They are about to drive me up the wall. Only three of them know where I am and the others are about to pop a blood vessel trying to find out. I had to have my phone disconnected to stop all the calls. When are they going to figure out that I'm well capable of taking care of myself? It's not the first time I've taken off like this." Hikari replied.

"You know her, Ryoga, Ryoma?" Kiku asked.

"She's an old friend. Our parents use to be friends a long time ago. We use to spend summers together when we were little." Ryoga replied.

"She's Hikari Higarashi." Ryoma added.

Hikari smiled and waved when shocked eyes turned to her. She was obviously used to people recognizing her surname.

"Higarashi, as in Higarashi Corps? The biggest provider for sports equipement, advertisment, and the biggest sports sponsor in the world? As in the Higarashi brothers who are all pro tennis players?" Kiku asked.

Hikari flashed a victory sign at them, her smile growing with the pride she felt for her family's companies and her brothers. Her head tilted to the side and she gave them one of her signature giggle/smiles.

"The one and only. Two of my brothers are playing on the Greek team this year and my second oldest brother is acting as their manager and coach. Naturally, they're the only three who know I'm here. So lets keep that a secret shall we." Hikari replied, holding a finger up to her lips as she gave them a cute little wink.

"Why aren't you back in Japan?" Ryoma asked.

"I left. For various reasons. I decided that being here, unattached to the Japan team, would be the best course of action for me at this point. You never know what could happen at tournaments like this. I wanted to see how all of you boys would handle yourselves when pitted against each other." Hikari said.

"You're here for Tezuka-buchou, aren't you?"

Hikari sputtered and then scoffed at Ryoma's question, her hands going to her hips. The look that crossed her eyes was a mix of anger, annoyance, and hurt. The first two out weighted the third.

"Why does everyone always automatically assume that?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Because usually that's your reason." Ryoma replied.

"It is not! As if I want anything to do with him anymore. He had the chance to take me with him, and didn't. I have more important things to do then to bother with him. I couldn't care less about him. So no, I am not here for him. That man lost his chance and burned that bridge. You know what they say about playing with fire. I have other interest in this tournament." she told him.

Ryoma wasn't usually one to care about this kind of thing, but he knew Hikari wasn't being completely honest. She might not be there for Tezuka, might be furious with him for whatever reason, but she did care. Even if it was just a little bit.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm on my way to watch the Japan verses Germany match. Not long after that, it's Greece verses Chad. I have to find Hisoka-nii if I want my seat. Who knows where that silly man got off to. I swear, he's not talking his job in this tournament very seriously." Hikari said, her eyes scanning those walking by.

"Knowing Hisoka, he'll probably find you before you find him." Ryoga remarked.

"You're probably right about that one." Hikari said with a sigh. "The question, then, is when."

Hikari didn't have to wait long for an answer. A flash of silver from behind her, had Ryoma's eyes shifting from Hikari. That was all the warning Hikari needed. The girl sidestepped the flying mass of male, extending one leg to trip him. The man went tumbling, end over end until he finally slid to a halt on his face. Hikari's hands went to her hips.

"I hate it when you're right." Hikari told Ryoga, who grinned.

She turned her eyes back to the other male as the man sat up, rubbing a hand over his face. The sheer amoung of immaturity in the grown man was enough to make those watching, sweat drop. Hikari obviously wasn't happy with his childish nature.

In some ways it was easy to tell the two were siblings. In others, it wasn't. As far as facial features went, his were sharper than Hikari's, his jaw strong, his nose straight, but the mouth with it's stubborn line and the fierce grey eyes, were the same. Higarashi Hisoke was a tall and willowy man that was all limbs. Muscled limbs, but limbs none the less. His long, silver toned hair was tied at the nape of his neck and his silver eyes were only a few shades darker than his sister's. He sat back on his heels, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hisoka-nii, really. You're twenty-four. Grow up, will you. No one is going to respect you as the coach of the Greek team if you're constantly greeting me like a five year old." Hikari told him, her hands on her hips.

"I was sure I had you that time. I didn't make a single sound." Hisoke retorted, getting to his feet and dusting off his black slacks and matching sports jacket.

"Ryo-chan saw you and I saw his eyes flicker to you. It wasn't hard to put two and two together." Hikari told him.

"You're no fun." Hisoka whined.

"Gods, you make me look like the older sibling here. Grow up, or I'll call Sosuke-nii to take over the team. He's always told me if I see you acting immature with business matters, that I am to call him so he can take over." Hikari told him sternly.

Hisoka's back went straight. It seemed that was a threat she used often. And it was a threat that obviously worked well. Hisoka's face betrayed his horror at the idea.

"I'll behave." he told her.

"You better. I came here to watch tennis. Not dodge your silly, sneaky attacks." Hikari told him, shaking a finger before turning back to Ryoma.

"Well, the match is about to start, so we best get going. So, see you later. Good luck." Hikari told him, waving to Ryoga and the others before turning and heading off, dragging her brother with her.

Ryoma watched as she flipped open her book and snatched a pencil from behind her ear to write something in it as Hisoka fell into step beside her, talking her ear off.

"Nice girl. Her brother seems immature though." Kiku remarked.

"Most of them are that way. I think only the oldest, Sosuke, and the youngest Haruhi, are mature." Ryoga told him.

"So she's a big fan of tennis?" Kiku asked Ryoma.

"Sort of. She's a data collector." Ryoma replied.

Kiku and Dudu looked at him. Ryoma was watching the Higarashi siblings as they made their way into the crowd. Hikari finally gave her brother a shove, knocking him over, and vanished from sight, a grin on her face. Hisoka jumped back to his feet and followed her, his hands flying as he muttered to himself. He too vanished into the crowd.

"I remember that. Ri-ri's got really sharp eyes. Use to be that she could pick up on a person's tennis style completely just by watching them for a short while. Smart kid." Ryoga replied.

"She's worse now." Ryoma said tartly.

Hikari now, knew things she shouldn't know. When she turned those sharp eyes of hers on other players she could completely break down their style, copy it, and then tweak it to fit her means. She was a tennis player worth playing but she wasn't playing in this tournament. Didn't mean she wasn't helping her brothers' team by collecting data on the other teams. Kiku and Dudu seemed to pick up on this.

"Perhaps we should tell Ralph about her." Kiku said.

"It wouldn't matter. There isn't much anyone can do to stop her from gathering her data. Even if you hold back." Ryoga told them.

"She probably sneaked into the camp and has been watching us for a while now. She's done it before." Ryoma added.

Kiku and Dudu shared a look. They didn't like the sound of a little girl with sharp eyes running around their camp collecting data that could, and probably would, be used against them. But Ryoma had a feeling Hikari's presence at this tournament was going to cause certain people problems.

-0-0-0-0-

"Ladies and gentlemen! The Under-17 Pre-World Cup Exhibition matches, Germany vs. Japan will now commence!"

Compared to the mighty cheers for Germany, when the Japan team entered the arena, they could hear a cricket chirp. It didn't do much for their confidence as a team. Not that it bothered some of the members.

"Haha...seems no one here is interested in seeing us in the slightest." Oishi remarked lowly.

"Holy crap! Isn't that Volk, the pro tennis player!? Oh, my god! It's actually him! In the flesh!" Kirihara exclaimed, pointing to the Germany side.

"He may be a pro but since he's only seventeen, he's allowed to play too. Also they've got two more players with experience on the European Tour that'll be participating in this tournament as well." Yukimura told Kirihara.

"Like Hika-chan's brothers, Shunsuke-kun and Haruhi-kun. They're both seventeen and under so they're playing for the Greek team." Oishi added.

He had told them about seeing Shunsuke at the draw and how Shunsuke had told him that he and Haruhi would be playing for the Greek team. It would have been at that time that they could have used Hikari and her excessive information.

"Anyhow, it seems tons of other countries are here doing recon." Marui said, peering up into the stands.

"That German player sure looks a lot like Tezuka." Sanada said, looking across the court to the German team.

"Hey Numbnuts, that is Tezuka." Atobe retorted.

"I'd notice that odious face of his a mile away. What the hell is he doing here?" Kite added.

"Ah, that's right...I forgot to tell you all last night. You're gonna be shocked but Tezuka is now with Ger-"

Some of the others cut Oishi off, yelling at him for not telling them sooner. Niou even called him an awful egg once more. Poor Oishi ended up getting a super thump on the forehead from Sanada once more.

"It seems the aura around Tezuka-kun has increased leaps and bounds." Shiraishi remarked.

Fuji agreed. Out of the corner of his eyes, Fuji saw a flash of white. He turned, swearing he had seen a familiar head of white among the crowd seated above them, but as he scanned the people there, he could find no sign of it. Perhaps he was imagining things. Surely Hikari wouldn't come to the tournament, wouldn't come and watch a match involving a team with Tezuka on it after he had left the Japan camp, and her, behind.

Shaking his head, Fuji decided to focus on the task at hand. He had a match to worry about. He got to his feet, joining Duke on the court as the match was called.

"Duke Watanabe-Fuji Shuusuke vs. M. Bismarck-E. Sigfried." the announcer called.

This would be the first match to discovering if Japan could stand on equal ground with the nine time champions. Fuji was determined to show Tezuka that he had changed for the better and to give his friend and former teammate as reason to meet him on the court one day.

Unknown to Fuji, a pair of bottomless silver eyes watched him from the sea of people crowded in the stands. A smile curved soft lips. It was to see how much everyone had changed.

END

Kyandi: I am working on the next chapter as we speak, so please don't kill me.

Shunsuke: She actually is now that she has a few good chapters to work with.

Kyandi: Waiting for them upload more New Prince of Tennis chapters is killing me!

Shunsuke: So sorry about that.

Kyandi: No you aren't.

Shunsuke: And?

Kyandi: Go away. Everyone please enjoy and review.

Shunsuke: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye, bye!


	4. Opening Fight

Kyandi: Hey everyone! I have another new chapter for you!

Shunsuke: She's working in hyper drive at the moment.

Kyandi: Not really. Just had a spurt of muse is all.

Shunsuke: Right, that.

Kyandi: So we'll just jump right into it.

Shunsuke: Everyone review and enjoy.

Kyandi: Its the other way around, Shunsuke.

Shunsuke: Everyone enjoy and review.

Kyandi: Better. I do not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 4 Opening Fight

"A one set match with Germany serving first!"

Cheers of "Germany" rang out over the courts as the two opposing sides got set to start the match. There wasn't a single cheer for Japan from the watching crowd, but that didn't discourage Fuji and Duke. Tezuka watched from the sidelines. It was a little strange being on the opposing side of his friends and former teammates, but it was something he had to do. He couldn't bring himself to imagine what it would be like if he had been on the opposing side of Hikari.

He was grateful, once more, that she had left the Japan U-17 camp.

"Hey Jap."

Tezuka looked up as Sigfried called him, snapping him out of his thoughts and away from thoughts of the white haired girl. The other boy grinned at him, a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

"When I'm done with them, none of your friends will ever pick up a racket again." Sigfried told him.

The crowd was silenced when Sigfried was sent flying into the stands from a ball to the face. Duke had nailed the boy in the face with his Duke Home Run. The large teenager didn't seem to be the least bit sorry for hitting the boy who had, only seconds before, been bad mouthing the Japan team. Tezuka didn't approve of Duke's actions, but he couldn't blame the guy.

"With just one single attack, you've changed the atmosphere in the arena, Duke." Byodoin remarked to himself, a please grin on his face.

"Is it okay if I keep going like this, Boss?" Duke asked.

"Go get us a win, Homerun Dude!" Toyama cheered.

The crowd was shocked by the opening attack from the Japan side. They had probably not expected the Japan team to put up a fight worth noticing. Even the German supporters had to be impressed with the strength of Duke. Sigfried's partner, though, was not impressed or pleased with the results of Duke's strength. He turned to the stands, looking up at Sigfried far above him.

"Geez...And here I was so looking forward to being paired up with you middle schoolers." Bismarck remarked. "Hurry up and get your ass down here. You just go stand in the corner of the court somewhere. I'm more than enough to handle these two."

"He's got a big pair." Fuji remarked to Duke.

"Yep." Duke agreed.

Bismarck had Sigfried sit down on the side lines, deciding to take on Duke and Fuji by himself. Over all it might seem like a smart idea to him, but Fuji and Duke didn't agree. One opponent was easier to crush than two, though they wouldn't count Sigfried completely out. This was a Doubles match after all. If he saw an opening, they had no doubt that Sigfried would jump back in.

Bismarck focused on forcing the the two to go on the defensive, keeping Duke from hitting the sweet spot on his racket face. Duke was a little taken off guard when he couldn't hit his Duke Home Run, letting Bismarck take advantage of it to smash the ball.

"If you remain passive, you'll never win!" Bismarck declared as he jumped to smash the ball.

But Fuji was waiting, charging the net to get the ball. Tezuka was surprised to see the aggressive approach Fuji suddenly had in his tennis. He wasn't using any of his Triple Counters. He slammed the ball home before Bismarck's feet ever touched the ground.

"One of the critical wind techniques "Aoi Fubuki"." Fuji announced, turning to peer at Tezuka.

Cheers for the Japan team over took the cheers for the German team at this surprising turn of events. Fuji smiled at Tezuka, raising his racket.

"I won't be relying on defensive tennis anymore." Fuji declared.

"Using a smash against a smash!"

Bismarck was surprised. He had never seen someone use a smash to return a smash before, but Fuji was refusing to rely on his triple counters anymore. Fuji dubbed his new technique the Hollyhock Blizzard. It was a high risk, using a smash against a smash and Bismarck might have called him a genius for it. Might have.

Tezuka on the other hand knew it was because of the match Fuji had challenged him to before he had left the Japan camp. Tezuka had called the match off half way through. Despite his best efforts, despite putting everything he had towards the match, Fuji had been no match for Tezuka. Tezuka had seen that. He hadn't wanted to battle Fuji as he was and had told him as much. It had been a cold verdict but what Tezuka had later said to Hikari had been colder.

And that effectively got Tezuka's thoughts back to Hikari.

Where was she?

Was she alright?

What was she doing?

Who was she with?

Why the hell was she avoiding everyone!?

So many questions instantly swarmed his mind and he had to push them back to focus on the match in front of him. He could think about her later when there wasn't a match to concern himself with. Though, truthfully...tennis just made him think of her more.

"The variance of the data we collected from Japan is far too great. Even if we take into account his growth since we've gathered our data, it's odd. It's like he's a completely different person." Q.P. remarked. "What in the world is up with that player?"

"Game Japan. 4-4!"

Between Duke and Fuji, they were managing to stand on equal footing with Bismarck. This shocked the crowd who had switched to cheer for Japan.

"Amazing! You're amazing, Fuji! Give it to those Germans!" Oishi cheered from the side lines.

"Idiot. The real show is only just about to start. Isn't it, Duke?" Byodoin remarked, grinning as he watched the match.

"Would you like me to start going wild, Boss?" Duke asked in reply.

With a roar of, "Play Ball!" Duke's muscled rippled, expanding until all of his jersey and shirt, save the sleeves from the elbow down, ripped away from his body. To say that those watching were surprised, was in understatement. Horror and shock were forefront in the expressions of the crowd. Oni just chuckled to himself.

"Hey, you're playing seriously already?" Oni asked in a joking manner.

"B-Boss..."

Oishi turned to Byodoin his eyes wide. None of the middle schoolers had taken Duke as the aggressive, muscled gorillia type.

"Yeah! Duke was once called "Destroyer"." Byodoin remarked.

From there it was a downward slide for Bismarck. Even when Sigfried joined back in to save his partner, Fuji just replied with one of his Triple Counters. Though he had switched to a more offensive, he wouldn't completely forsake his counters when they could save them a point.

Sigfried, to bypass Fuji's Hollyhock Blizzard, shot the ball towards Duke. From that angle Duke shouldn't have been able to hit his Duke Home Run. Not that it matter. His real style involved softer, compact hits, which he used to return the ball. Bismarck saved the ball, taking a flying leap forward and lobbing the ball over Duke's head. Fuji used his Triple Counter "White Dragon" to return it and winning the last point.

The ball, when it hit the court, bounced back, swing out of bounds. Tezuka caught the ball, pleasantly surprised by the change in Fuji.

"Fuji, I'll meet you in the main tournament." Tezuka called out to Fuji.

"Game set, won by Japan!" came the announcement.

The Japan middle schoolers cheered, Toyama waving the Japan flag in joy. Marui and Oishi hugged, the others jumping in cheers. It was mostly the middle schoolers getting worked up over the win, but it was a victory against the champions.

"We started with a win against Germany!"

Fuji and Duke met Bismarck and Sigfried at the net to shake hands. In a show of good nature, Bismarck took Duke's hand but Sigfried refused to take Fuji's. Fuji didn't take offense to it. There were always players that were sore losers and it seemed Sigfried was one of them.

"We will now proceed with the second round of the U-17 Pre-World Cup Exhibition match between Germany and Japan." the announcer called.

Up in the stands, a pencil flew across paper, adding side notes and penciling in details and numbers. The writer paused for a moment, reaching into a bag to pull out a box of an array of colorful sticky notes, choosing a blue one before plastering it to the top of the page and writing a brief note on it.

"So what do you think so far?"

The writer looked up, striking silver eyes landing on the dark haired man looking down a strong, proud nose. Hair of a thick, wavy black hung around his sharp, hard, but handsome face with it's hauntingly beautiful, honey brown eyes. He was tall at six foot, four, muscled and lean, but slimmer than most of the muscled man who currently resided in the arena. His ears were pierced and there was a scar over his left eye that only added to his charm. A jersey in the design of the Greek flag clad the male's body, blue and white standing out against the dark olive tan of his skin.

Hikari grinned up at the male as he lowered himself into the empty seat next to her.

"Aetos, what are you doing here?" she asked him.

Aetos Stavros was seventeen, a high school third year, and a member of the Greek team. Hikari had met him years ago when she had visited Greece along side her father and oldest brother. She had been seven at the time and Hikaru, who has still been alive, had been stuck home with their housekeeper/nanny, Suou, because he had been sick. Aetos had spent several days playing tennis with Hikari then and she had been pleased to see him added to the Greek ranks.

"Your brothers told me you were up here watching the matches. Seeing how you are such a brilliant scout, I thought I would ask your opinion of the Japan and German teams. You did live in Japan and played with most of the boys for nearly a year. Studied them longer." Aetos replied, his accented English washing over her.

Hikari, having spent a lot of time before and after the Japan U-17 camp, in Greece, had taken on a bit of the same accent as him. She claimed it came from hearing the accent all day, every day. She unconsciously picked it up. Her brothers just laughed at her for it.

Hikari rolled her eyes at Aetos. He was butteriing her up, hoping to get information from her. She turned her eyes back to the court below as Atobe and Irie stepped forward to be the next pair to challenge the German team.

"They're about as I expected them to be. Like you said, I played with those boys for quite a while. I took great pains to collect data, to mark their growth while I was there. I was sad to leave, but I felt my time there was done. I had other more important things to do." Hikari said.

"Yet you kept the information on them." Aetos said.

"I did. And it wasn't in vain either. As for the German team...they are nine time champions. Their strength and powress is to be expected. They, too, are preforming about as I expected of them." Hikari replied.

Aetos frowned, running a hand through his hair and rubbing at the back of his head. Hikari knew that to mean that he hadn't gotten quite the answer he was looking for. When one knew Aetos as well as Hikari knew people, he was pretty easy to read.

"Was there something else you wanted to know?" she asked.

"You know full well what I wanted to know, Princess." he told her.

"Please don't call me that."

"Why not? You were known as the Princess of Blackness in Russia, the Silver Siren in your middle school league, and the Queen of the Courts at the Japan camp. Royalty seems to be in your blood." Aetos remarked.

Hikari looked the male, who was stretched out in his seat, eyes sat on the court below. Eyes that, Hikari knew, were almost as sharp as her own. Except where Hikari saw the physical changes in a person, could read the change in a person's emotions and thoughts by the changes in their body language, Aetos saw the emotional and mental changes in a person. Some of his teammates commented that Aetos looked into a person's very soul.

Hikari called bull.

And not just because the idea creeped her out.

"The only one of those I ever really liked was Silver Siren. And yes, I know what you meant. You aren't playing against Germany or Japan in this exhibition match, so why should I share information with you on it? I thought Castor was your scout." she replied.

"Man, you're stingy. And your brothers said that you were a helpful person." Aetos said.

Hikari closed her data log and reached over and popped him with it in the side of the head. The boy shot her a questioning look but Hikari simply popped the book back open.

"I'm helpful when you actually need help. Like I said, you aren't playing Germany or Japan. You're playing Chad and you already have information on them." Hikari told him.

Aetos heaved a sigh before shoving himself to his feet once more. Placing a hand on the back of her seat, he leaned over to look down at her.

"Fine, fine. I'll come and ask you when we play those teams but I expect you to have them down to a T." he remarked.

"Even for someone with eyes like mine, I couldn't completely have players like this down if I were to study them for five years. Some grow as they play." Hikari told him, refusing to look up at him.

"You mean like you?" he asked.

"I mean like Ryoma Echizen. Who is an American Rep, by the way. And Shuusuke Fuji of the Japan Team, and Kunimitsu Tezuka from the German team. Now shouldn't you be getting ready for your match? You never know how quickly some matches can go." Hikari replied.

When he didn't move or say a word, Hikari looked up at him. Aetos stared down at her. He didn't move even when she cocked an eyebrow up at him. He reached out and snagged a piece of her hair, tugging slightly as he held it.

"You know, you're beautifully fair for someone with Greek blood." he remarked, a charming smile curling one end of his mouth.

"For one, that's not going to butter me up and get me to tell you anything." she told him. "And for two...I'm taken so let go."

Aetos grinned at her, giving the piece of hair another tug.

"Can't blame me for trying, can you?" he asked. "It works for Shun."

"My brother couldn't charm his way out of a wet, paper bag. He just deals with silly, immature girls. Which I am not. Now go, you silly man." Hikari told him.

Aetos chuckled as he let go of her hair and turned to leave. Hikari shook her head at his retreating back. He wasn't serious, she knew. He was never serious about anything but tennis. He kind of reminded her of Ryoma in that aspect. But he was amusing. Smiling to herself, she turned back around to watch the Germany/Japan match. She was interested to see how the others had grown as well.

This really was going to be a very interesting tournament.

END

Kyandi: I'm working on chapters as fast as I can!

Shunsuke: She has to follow her muse though.

Kyandi: Right! And right now it's horribly single minded.

Shunsuke: Like you?

Kyandi: No, like you and girls.

Shunsuke: That hurts, really it does.

Kyandi: Whatever. Everyone enjoy and review.

Shunsuke: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye, bye.


	5. Mr Pot and Mr Kettle

Kyandi: Hey everyone!

Shunsuke: Since we were so lucky that so many chapters were updated for the manga, we were able to write you another chapter.

Kyandi: I really can't write the next until they translate half of the chapters. And for some reason there are four chapters missing. I must find them!

Shunsuke: Do that after we update this chapter.

Kyandi: Right! I'm sure I have left all of you waiting long enough.

Shunsuke: That's for sure.

Kyandi: So everyone enjoy and review!

Shunsuke: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 5 Mr. Pot and Mr. Kettle

The match started about as Hikari would have expected. She felt a flash of anger and hurt stab her through the heart when she saw Tezuka step onto the court. Even now, a month later, she still couldn't believe she had let him get a hold of her so firmly. His words still cut at her deep. If she ever really stopped to think about them, it felt like something was tumbling around in her stomach, trying to rip it apart from the inside.

Not so pleasant a feeling.

Hikari shoved the thought aside though, to focus on the match. Atobe's over confidence usually got him into trouble but when faced with Tezuka, his confidence was shaken horribly. Even Hikari was a little shaken by the vast leap in Tezuka's ability. Such a short amount of time in the German camp and he had improved so much. Hikari didn't think she had improved that much while at the Japan camp and she had learned quite a lot.

It made her even more eager to learn all she could of his current strength so that some day...she could crush him.

Tezuka was her new Hikaru.

"Miss Higarashi!"

Hikari's eyes darted away from the match below when her name was called. A young man, just fresh from college, stood at her side, looking down at her with blazing green eyes. Curls of strawberry blonde hair curled around his head. He was handsome in a boyish way, more cute than anything and while he had a toned body, he lacked the toned muscle of an athlete. He also lacked a lot of height. Hikari stood at a firm five foot, two, a good two or three inches taller than Ryoma now, but this man only stood three inches taller than her.

Short given his age.

"What is it, Damen?" Hikari asked, turning her attention back to the court below.

Damen McCullen was Hisoka's assistant from the Irish branch of Higarashi Industries. Hisoka had brought him on as a handler for the Greek team but Hikari knew for a fact that there was a secondary reason for Damen's presence at the tournament and that was to stalk Hikari and basically be her baby sitter. Less than a month to her thirteenth birthday and Hisoka was still treating her like she was four. Damen didn't help matters either.

The man seemed dead set on hating her.

Since the first time she had met the man two years before, he had had a dislike of her instantly. Perhaps it was because Hisoka, who usually was solely fixed on work when at work, turned into an immature child when she showed up. Or maybe it was because Damen was gay, had a crush on Hisoka and felt jealous that Hisoka doted on her and easily dismissed Damen when she was around.

None of which was her fault.

But she never called him out on it. Everyone had at least one person who disliked them. Just like Hikari disliked Tohno. But she would give him one thing...he took his job seriously and watched her like a hawk. To slip away from him took an act of congress. And when found her, it took an hour for him to finish his scolding.

She was not in the mood to listen to it today.

"You took off again!" he exclaimed.

"I told you I wanted to watch the German match and Hisoka-nii led me to my seat." she told him, not taking her eyes from the court.

"You really shouldn't bother Mr. Hisoka! He's here for work, not your whims." Damen told her.

Hikari rolled her eyes and waved him away.

"Message received. Good-bye, Damen." Hikari told him.

Damen blew up at that, nagging her ear off, but Hikari was too busy watching to care what he said. She had a knack for tuning out those she didn't care to hear and she didn't care to hear Damen's nagging. Damen finally leaned forward and poked her, rather harshly, in the side of the head. Hikari's head turned and she fixed him with a look that could wilt the hardiest of desert flowers. Damen shrunk under her gaze, instantly snapping his hand back.

"Tell me what you want, Damen, or leave. I am busy here." Hikari told him.

"It's just Mr. Hisoka wanted me to tell you that the Americans are finishing up with their practice time soon. Their match will start long afterward. He said you wanted to watch it." Damen told her.

"Thank you for telling me. I will leave shortly. I do not think this match will last long." Hikari remarked, eyes focusing on the court again where Tezuka and Q.P. were dominating the match.

Damen turned his eyes to the court himself, watching the two teams go at it. He dropped to perch on the arm of the seat next to Hikari's watching the match closely.

"Isn't the Japan team made up of your friends from Japan?" he asked.

"It is." Hikari replied.

"And that middle school German player there...he was your middle school captain?"

"He was."

Damen fell quiet as he watched. Tezuka and Q.P. didn't leave any room for Atobe and Irie to win a single game. Given Q.P.'s reputation and Tezuka's considerable gain in strength, Hikari wasn't too awfully surprised by that. Atobe still had a lot of work he needed to do and Irie sometimes fooled around too much to be taken completely serious.

"Damn. That German high schooler is good." Damen remarked.

"He is." Hikari agreed.

"Who is he?" Damen asked.

"He goes by Q.P."

"Which stands for?"

"Quality of Perfection."

"Cocky kid." Damen remarked.

"That he is. His snide, over self-confidence will his undoing if he isn't careful. People started calling him Q.P. and he just started registering as that. No one even knows his real name or even his birthplace. What is known is that he has received a special education at an academy for the gifted. He is suppose to be the best of the best." Hikari told him.

"Any weaknesses or flaws?" Damen asked.

"Besides being arrogantly confident in himself? Everyone has weaknesses and flaws." Hikari replied.

"Including you?" Damen asked sourly.

"I'm human, aren't I? I'm just better at hiding mine."

Damen looked down at her, opening his mouth to say something, but Hikari shot him a look that shut him up instantly. She wasn't his boss, Hisoka was, but she could still have his job in a second's notice. She had already said she wouldn't do such a thing, but he wasn't taking any chances.

Below them the final call was made on the match with the German team winning 6-0. Hikari turned to look down at the court. She hadn't expected Atobe and Irie to beat Tezuka and Q.P. and that was alright. It was just an exhibition match. It didn't really matter who lost or won and there was still one more match to be played. Japan could still pull out a victory. For the next match though, Volk stepped out onto the court. Damen's face leeched of color.

"That's the pro, Volk, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes. Jurgen Valicevic Volk, dubbed the Philosopher of Victory. He became a pro last year and hasn't lost a single match since. Even though he is only five years older than me, he is already changing the tennis world as we know it. You couldn't have a better teammate or mentor." Hikari said.

Damen looked down at her, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Do you foresee an issue for the Greek team?" he asked.

"I always foresee issues. It's up to the individual players on whether they overcome those issues or not." Hikari replied.

She leaned forward suddenly, her eyes going wide and a smile falling on her face when she watched Tokugawa step out onto the court.

"Kazuya!" she said lowly, her tone happy.

Damen looked at her then turned his eyes to Tokugawa, taking the high schooler in.

"Is that the boyfriend?" Damen asked.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Hikari retorted instead of answering.

Damen grinned then. When it came to Hikari's relationship status, she was always so touchy. Perhaps it was because she had so many friends who nosed in on it so often. It was one of the few buttons Damen knew about that would set off her temper quickly. He threw his hands into the air when Hikari glared at him, silver eyes flashing.

"I didn't mean any offense. The kid's cute. In a stoic kind of way." Damen said, making Hikari wrinkle her nose at him. "Anyhow, as much as I'm sure you want to watch his match, if you don't go soon, you'll miss the American match."

Hikari's eyes flashed between Damen and the court. She was obviously torn between staying and watching Tokugawa and Yukimura's match and leaving to watch the first American team match which would feature Ryoma and Ryoga. Though Hikari really wanted to watch Tokugawa, watching the Echizen brothers play together after so many years apart, was a chance she couldn't pass up on.

"I'll make a deal with you, Damen. You video tape this match for me and I'll leave Hisoka-nii all to you for a day. He'll be your's." Hikari offered.

Damen's eyes lit up and she knew she had him hooked. Damen agreed to her terms, taking the video camera she pulled out of her bag. She left the man to record the match and headed out for the court where Ryoma would soon before playing his match. She was sure to text Hisoka and tell him she was off to the American match and had just hit send when she spotted Ryoma waiting to enter the court. He was alone, his teammates no where to be found.

"Ryo-chan?"

Ryoma looked up as she neared him. Hikari's silver eyes scanned the area, seeking his brother and teammates before fixing on him once more.

"Where is your team?" she asked.

"They went to take showers and haven't shown up yet." Ryoma told her.

"It seems the rest are late. If they can't make it out for the exhibition match they'll lose their qualifications to enter the main tournament." remarked a boy dressed as one of the staff.

Hikari looked at him, the boy blushing when she fixed him with an intense stare. His name tage read Oliver.

"He has a point, Ryo-chan." Hikari said, turning her attention back to Ryoma.

Ryoma remained silent as he thought this through. The staff started freaking out, Hikari watching Oliver before looking at Ryoma. The same idea clicked in both of their minds at the same time and both grinned. Ryoma removed his American Rep jersey.

"Hey Oliver. Will you try this on for me?" Ryoma asked holding out the jersey.

He managed to talk Oliver into standing in for Ryoga for the first match. That done he turned to Hikari.

"Find them?" he asked.

Hikari smiled. She had already been thinking about going and looking for the other members of Ryoma's team. After all, it would be a pity if they couldn't enter the main tournament. Ryoma would be very displease, she was sure.

"Yeah, sure. Leave it to me. Just stall until I can find them." Hikari promised, giving him a wave before taking off.

-0-0-0-0-

"Shit! We can't open it! God dammit!"

Try as they might, the American rep boys could not budge the doors. They tried banging on them but either no one was near enough to hear, or they didn't care to see what the noise was about. Whatever was holding the door close, wouldn't budge. Even with five of them trying with all their might the doors wouldn't open. Kiko even put his full weight behind it and still couldn't get them to move a fraction of an inch.

"The door's too sturdy! It's not yielding at all!" one of the boys yelled.

It was then that Ralph noticed something on the floor. When he knelt to look at it, he found it was the pin of their opponents in the exhibition match; the Tube Republic. He had a pretty good idea on what had happened then. Dudu turned to him, more concerned with the fact that none of them could open the doors.

"What do we do, Ralph? All of us are locked in here." Dudu asked.

Ralph looked up from the pin. How were they going to get out of the room and manage to make it to the match before their match started. As it was, the only member of their team that wasn't trapped with them, was Ryoma. Ryoma couldn't play the match alone and buy them time. Even if he could, what would they do if they couldn't get out before the end of the match.

Just then there was noise from the other side of the door. The boys backed away from the door, unsure what would happen next. The door rattled then there was a soft, "Ah!" from the other side before the door flew open to reveal the person on the other side.

"Ri-ri!" Ryoma greeted with a cheer.

Standing in the door way, a pocket knife in one hand and a sawed through rope in the other, was Hikari. The girl flicked her knife close, slipping it back into the pocket of her jean shorts. She tossed the rope aside before leaning a hip on the door frame, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You know I'm surprised no one heard the lot of you with how loud you were being." she remarked.

Ryoga bounded forward, happy to see the girl. Especially since she had just helped them. Ralph rose to his feet, examining the girl now standing in the doorway. Ryoga seemed on good terms with her, but something about the sharpness of her eyes as she looked at them, didn't sit right with Ralph.

"Did you come to help me?" Ryoga asked.

Hikari gave off a sharp laugh.

"You're kidding right? Help you? Yeah, no." Hikari told him, making Ryoga deflate. "Ryo-chan asked me to find all of you while he stalled. I wouldn't be too concerned though. He's handling it fine."

"How did you know where to look though?" Kiko asked.

Hikari's eyes came up to him, the long fan of white lashes lowered, the silver of her eyes shining through. Ralph got the feeling of vastness beyond that gaze. Like she knew more than he would care for her to know.

"You'd be surprised at what I know, but really it was easy to figure it out." Hikari said, pushing herself away from the door frame. "Your opponent is made up of tennis players who favor an underhand, dirty way of trying to win. Add that to the fact that Ryo-chan said you were going to take showers, finding you here was the only logical answer. It only took a little snooping to find out where your showers were located."

"And how did you get here? These are the player showers. Girls, or anyone not on the team wouldn't be allowed in this area. How did you get here?" Dudu asked.

"Believe me when I say, you don't want to know. I have my ways." Hikari replied.

With that she turned and took off, fingers hooking into the back pockets of her shorts. Ryoga followed after her, pestering her about never wanting to help him but always being willing to help Ryoma.

"Did you ever stop to think that perhaps, just maybe, I like Ryo-chan more than you?" Hikari asked, throwing a glance his way.

"No."

Hikari rolled her eyes at Ryoga's fast, almost instant reply to her question. She shouldn't have expected anything else from him. Ryoga thought himself a ladies man. Tanegashima was more of a ladies man than him.

"You are far too much like your father." she told him.

"The only dislike him because he hit on your mom way after she broke up with him and married your dad." Ryoga replied.

"Does it not bother you that not only is your father a leecher, but you and I were almost siblings!?" Hikari asked.

The idea seemed to bother Hikari, but Ryoga had a grin on his face as he considered that. Ryoma would have agreed with her instantly, but Ryoga wasn't taking this seriously at all.

"You as a sister...terrifying." Ryoga replied.

Hikari braced her left fist in her right hand and used that to jam her left elbow into his ribs. Ryoga bent double, rubbing at the abused area.

"All seven of my brothers happen to adore me, thank you very much. Compared to your brother who finds you annoying." she told Ryoga who grinned at her.

"You are the old friend of Ryoga's and Ryoma's that Kiko and Dudu told me about, aren't you?"

Hikari turned, looking up at Ralph as the young man stepped forward, looking down at her. She tilted her head back, hands going to hips.

"Well I'm an old friend of Ryo-chan's for sure." she remarked.

"Must you always be so cruel, Ri-ri?" Ryoga asked.

Hikari made a face at him, much to Ryoga's amusement, and turned back to look at Ralph. He was eyeing her. It was a look she knew well. He was sizing her up, trying to guess her reason for helping and being there. He was a sharp witted man, she would give him that much. Candyce would have liked him instantly, though Hikari believed he might be a little too serious for the girl.

"But, yes, I am. I'm Hikari Higarashi. Pleasure." Hikari said, holding a hand out to Ralph.

Ralph took it, his eyes flicking to their hands in surprise when he felt the firmness of her grip. Most girls didn't have a firm handshake like that and for a girl of her size, he hadn't been expecting it. Hikari saw the look and instantly released his hand. She had a businessman's handshake, she knew. Sosuke insisted that a firm handshake was key to earning a little respect in the boardroom, even if you were a girl. Hikari dropped her hand to her side.

"I'm-"

"Ralph Reinhardt. High school third year, seventeen, captain of the American reps. I'm aware." Hikari said cutting him off.

Ralph raised an eyebrow in questioning. He asked the same question everyone asked...how did she know that. It was an obvious question.

"I'm...a bit of a tennis fanatic." Hikari answered.

"She's a data collector." Kiko corrected.

Hikari leaned around Ralph to look at the boy, one eyebrow rocketing upwards. She had a pretty good idea on who had told him that. Her eyes turned to Ryoga, who instantly looked anywhere but at her, his hands going into his pockets as he rocked back on his heels trying to appearing innocent.

"You just have to run your mouth, don't you, Oga-nii?" she asked.

Ryoga grinned at her. He was quick to tell her that Ryoma was the one that had told them, not him. Hikari was sure Ryoma had played a part in it too, but the oblivious boy didn't know better. Ryoga did. Her hard stare had him turning his gaze from hers once more. He knew if he looked her straight in the eye at this moment he was going to feel like his stomach bottomed out. Hikari could have the scariest of looks on her face when displeased.

"It doesn't matter anyway. It's not like I'm the only person around this place who fancies herself a data collector." Hikari said, heaving a sigh.

"Fancies?" Ryoga asked.

"No more out of you, Oga-nii." Hikari told him firmly.

Ryoga feigned repentance though Hikari knew he didn't really mean it. Even when he hung his head. The grin on his face gave him away.

"Leave it up to you and every team in this tournament will know of me before the main tournament even starts." she remarked, giving him a stern look.

"That's not a bad thing. Give them fair warning." Ryoga remarked.

Hikari shot him a firm look, shutting him up. One of her hands went to her hip and she shook a finger at him.

"I'm warning you, Oga-nii. And you wonder why I like Ryo-chan better. This is one of those reasons. At least he minds his own business and stays out of mine."

Ryoga put his hands up in the air in a look of innocent surrender. Not that Hikari believed it for a moment. She gave him a stern look while his teammates eyed her. It was always suspicious when data collectors came by, but even more so when that data collector had family playing on a rival team and had every reason to work as their scout for them.

"Anyway, I did as Ryo-chan asked me. You might want to get a move on." Hikari said, turning her eyes to Ralph.

He wasn't sure what to make of those bottomless, sharp, and far too intelligent eyes. With no clear line between iris and pupil, it created a hyponizing effect that made it a little hard for a person to look away. Ralph felt like she was looking right through him.

"We're already late to the match and Ryoma can't play alone." Kiko said.

"You really must give him so little credit." Hikari replied, hands going to her hips.

She shook her head at Kiko who rubbed at the back of his neck. Ryoga grinned as he watched Hikari. She could be a little mean at times, making Kiko feel bad about doubting Ryoma.

"He may be single minded for the most part, but he's quite clever, Ryo-chan. He's not playing alone and if you get going, you'll make it for the next two matches." she added.

"You're not going to come watch?" Ryoga asked.

"What's the point? The only reason I was going to watch to begin with was because the first match had you and Ryo-chan playing. Ryo-chan sucks at Doubles and you two haven't been together in years. I was curious to see how you would play, but that match-up didn't get to happen. Your opponent lacks any real talent and have to resort to dirty tricks, so I'm not interested in the other matches. I'll head back and see if I can catch the last part of Kazuya's match." Hikari answered, turning to leave.

"Kazuya? That's so informal of you. You're never informal, Ri-ri. Is he your boyfriend?" Ryoga asked, a sly grin on his face.

If it had been a cartoon, a puff of smoke would have exploded from the top of Hikari's head as she stiffened. When she rounded on him there was a light pink blush on her face.

"What is it with everyone today? You are so nosy! I fail to see how that is any of your business!" she retorted.

Ryoga's grin on grew and he leaned down to put his eyes on level with hers. Hikari glared back at him.

"He is isn't he? You are so easy to see through, Ri-ri." Ryoga said happily.

"Oh really now? Hey Mr. Pot, Mr. Kettle called and he says you're black." Hikari retorted.

Use to her sometimes sarcastic retorts, Ryoga just grinned. That would be Hikari's round about way of using the old saying, "That's the pot calling the kettle black". To her, he was easy to see through too. But Hikari wasn't going to have an argument with him on this subject. She waved her hands at him in a shooing manner.

"Be gone with you. I have more important things to do than to discuss my relationship status with you." she told him.

"There shouldn't be a relationship status. You're only twelve." Ryoga replied playfully.

"Really? We're really going to have this conversation? You're a bigger shameless flirt than your father and he's married and still hits on women." Hikari replied.

Ryoga opened his mouth to reply, but Hikari cut him off with a stern look.

"If you even think about saying it's different because you're a guy, I will plant you on your face." Hikari told him.

"I would never." Ryoga replied.

"Liar." Hikari retorted.

Just then there was a ring. Hikari fished a silver cellphone from her pocket, a tiger lily phone strap swinging back with forth with a mini tennis racket clipping on it. She flipped it open to check her text message. Her eyes scanned the message quickly.

"I have to go and so do you. Best of luck, though I highly doubt you'll need it." Hikari told them, giving them a wave before turning to walk away.

Ryoga chuckled as he watched her type a message and slid her phone back into her pocket.

"She's still the same as always." Ryoga remarked before following his team to their match.

Hikari headed back to the Japan/German match. She had just received a text from Damen saying that the match might have taken a turn for the worse with Yukimura freezing up on the court and Tokugawa having to fight the match along with defending Yukimura. She needed to see the match for herself. So she hurried. She flew into the arena...and collided with someone. Arms shot out, catching her before she hit the ground.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Hikari said, turning her eyes up.

Her eyes met those of a young man wearing the France colors on his jersey. She knew exactly who he was too.

_Leopold Camus. French high school captain_, Hikari thought.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was heading. My apologies." Hikari told him, switching to French.

Thankfully it was one of the languages her father had made her learn to prepare her for taking over part of the family companies some day. In her opinion though, she was a little rusty with French. She would only be able to speak simple sentences.

Camus raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. He had yet to release her arms. She could see the intrigued look in his eyes as he looked down at her. Just what was so intriguing to him? Finally he released her, taking a step back.

"It's fine. A young lady like you should be more careful." he told her.

Young lady. If Hikari didn't know better, she would almost think he was in his thirties or forties instead of his late teens. As she had told many of her friends, though, she was a lady, but she wasn't lady-like. It was very doubtful that she was going to take anymore caution than normal. That just wasn't Hikari.

"Thank you for understanding. I really am apologetic for the run-in." Hikari told him.

The smile he gave her was one that conveyed both boredom and interest. A mix she would have never been able to manage herself. Her eyes shifted past him to his teammates for a brief moment before returning to Camus. She really wanted to get back to her seat and watch the rest of Tokugawa and Yukimura's match but she couldn't be rude. It could seriously blow up in her face later along the line. Not something she needed when she was basically on her own at the moment.

"I've seen you before, I'm sure." Camus remarked.

"Truly?" Hikari questioned.

She placed a finger to her chin, tilting her head in thought. She couldn't remember ever having come face to face with Camus before. Of course she had seen him before. She followed all new and young pros no matter what country they came from. But as far as she knew, she had never came face to face with him and her Jr. Pro days were so long ago she doubted he knew anything of them. So very few people outside of Russia did.

"No, I don't believe we have ever met before. I've had so very few trips to France." Hikari remarked thoughtfully.

"You aren't French? You speak French so well." one of Camus' teammates remarked.

"Oh no! I'm not French. I'm-"

"Miss Higarashi!"

Hikari leaned around Camus to see Damen coming their way. He cast the French players a look before fixing his eyes on Hikari. Right in the nick of time, in Hikari's opinion.

"Oh! I'm coming, Damen. Just a moment." Hikari said, switching back to English for the man's benefit.

Damen, bless his hard working soul, could only speak English, Japanese, and Greek. The latter he had learned to take his position as a handler for the Greek team. Hikari turned back to Camus and smiled.

"Japanese and Greek. That's what I am. If you will excuse, I must go. Best of luck to you in the tournament." Hikari told them, giving them a polite bow before moving past them to Damen's side.

"Really Miss Higarashi, I can't take my eyes off you for a moment. You are here to watch the matches, not cause others trouble. Your brothers would be displeased." Damen said, as the two walked away.

"You concern yourself too much, Damen. I take perfectly good care of myself." Hikari replied before the two were out of ear shot of Camus and his teammates.

"Higarashi? As in Higarashi Industries?" one of his teammates asked.

"Aren't all of the Higarashi sons pro players? The two youngest are playing for the Greek team in this tournament." another added.

"She's probably their sister and here to watch their matches." another said. "I had heard they had a little sister of middle school age."

Camus tilted his head as he watched Hikari vanish into the stands, a nagging caretaker on her heels.

"I wonder..." he mused.

He could swear he had seen her before, but was having a hard time placing where. One simply just didn't forget eyes like those. So clear, so bottomless, so hypnotic they could cause a person to drown in their fantomless depths. No, he was sure he had seen her before.

But where?

END

Kyandi: Chapter done! Sorry, I really didn't mean to leave all of you on a cliff hanger.

Shunsuke: This time she really didn't mean to. She's trying to find the four chapters that are missing of the manga.

Kyandi: Argh! Where are they!?

Shunsuke: You'll find them, so calm down.

Kyandi: This is so frustrating! Where is chapters 161-164 go!?

Shunsuke: Everyone enjoy and review.

Kyandi: We'll be back as soon as I've located these sneaky little chapters.

Shunsuke: Bye!


	6. Keep Fighting On

Kyandi: Hey everyone!

Shunsuke: Sorry we've gone so long without updating.

Kyandi: I lost internet and was just recently able to get it back.

Shunsuke: And we are currently working on other chapters.

Kyandi: For now, we have this chapter for you!

Haruhi: You're going to have some readers saying, "I knew it" by the end of this chapter.

Kyandi: Yeah, I'm aware. But we will discuss that later. For now, everyone enjoy and review.

Haruhi: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 6 Keep Fighting On

Hikari came to a stop just behind the seats where Damen had left his bag. She looked down at the court. Yukimura had frozen in his tracks and Tokugawa was doing all he could to protect the middle schooler and keep up the rally at the same time. That was Tokugawa to his very core. Even when faced with the unforgiving world, he remained honorable. Where Byodoin would have left his partner to suffer and possibly fall, Tokugawa protected his.

It put a fond smile on Hikari's face.

"He just stopped moving." Damen remarked.

"I see that." Hikari replied.

She stared down at the court below, watching Tokugawa try so hard to defend Yukimura, despite never really having spent much time with the middle schooler.

"What happened?" Damen asked.

"Yukimura-kun uses Yips tennis. By not leaving any opening in his own tennis and returning all shots his opponents feed him, he strips an opponent of their confidence and by extension, their senses. It seems the phenomenon has been turned on him in this battle." Hikari answered.

"Do you think he'll snap out of it?" Damen asked.

"Give him time. Yukimura-kun is smart. Very smart. He'll figure it out. Until then, Kazuya has to keep this up."

Hikari wanted to help, had the urge to help, but she was no longer a member of the Japan ranks. She couldn't offer them assistance anymore. They would have to figure it out for themselves. They were smart boys. She knew, sooner or later, they would figure it out. Sure enough, right before her eyes, she watched Yukimura fight and, at first, fail to continue to play.

Where Ryoma had broken out of the Yips with his sheer enjoyment of playing tennis, Yukimura forced himself out of the state with sheer will power. A grin curved Hikari's lips as she watched.

"Amazing. He forced himself out with nothing more than will power." Hikari remarked.

"Stubborn kid." Damen remarked.

"Yes, he is. And they called me stubborn." Hikari replied, amused.

"Well you have to see the merit in that one." Damen remarked, looking at her with his hands on his hips.

"No one asked for your opinion on the matter." Hikari told him.

Hikari, from where she stood, had a pretty good idea on what had gone through Yukimura's head. As someone who had to overcome a curve ball life threw at her, she understood how Yukimura must have felt. When tennis was their whole lives, to suddenly have something happen and be told they could never play it again...they had to work harder than most. With that increase in work it was hard to find the enjoyment in tennis that people like Ryoma and Toyama could.

Hikari had no doubt she would never open the final door of Mugo no Kyochi. For her, striving to better herself, striving to keep the friendships she had formed while playing tennis, was all that mattered. She still loved tennis...it just came second to her friendships.

Except right now.

Right now, things had changed. She could no longer be helpful to them. For what she had to do, friendship would have to take the back burner.

The point was, she knew how Yukimura felt. When Volk claimed that it was strength that allowed Yukimura to break free from his own Yips, many people in the crowd repeating his opinion, Hikari disagreed.

It was stubbornness, through and through.

Nothing more.

With Yukimura back in the game, he and Tokugawa began to work together to catch up. Hikari was almost afraid to blink, thinking she might miss something important. When Byodoin and their coach had allowed Tokugawa and Yukimura to pair up, they had stumbled upon a gold mine. Down at the Japan bench, Oni and Irie were, unconsciously, agreeing with Hikari.

"Occasionally...Tokugawa-kun's preception becomes frighteningly keen, right?" Irie asked. "Not as keen as Ri-hime's is normally though."

"He once said it is called "Premonition", however...today's "Premonitions" are unusually clear. Ri-hime would be proud of him." Oni said in agreement.

Fuji chuckled at that one. The noise drew attention to the middle schooler.

"Hika-chan might be proud of him for a moment, but then she would have to prove she's the superior one and would have to beat him down. Friend or not. She doesn't take personal competition very well." Fuji told them.

They all knew, without a doubt...that that was true. To know that Tanegashima had the same ability to manipulate spin like she did, had drove Hikari up the wall. That she had managed to throw her match against him, spoke to how restrained she could be when she had another goal in mind.

A goal they still didn't know!

And none of them even knew where she was. Of course Tokugawa might, but none of them had asked him. It was a little awkward to talk to the high schooler about Hikari. Especially considering how close he and Hikari had become before she had left the camp. Even more so after everyone in the camp heard about the two of them kissing.

In the stands, Hikari sneezed, the noise high pitched and squeaky, like a mouse. Damen looked at her as she rubbed her nose. Hikari had a feeling someone was talking about her somewhere. She didn't answer Damen's questioning look though. Her eyes were set on the match below.

Yukimura and Tokugawa put up a good fight, fighting with all they had, managing to do something that most had never been able to do. Like find a way to return a vortex spin. Hikari knew how difficult it was to deal with vortex spin. A wrist naturally didn't handle vertical spin very well. It just wasn't meant to bend that way. So naturally, when encountered with a vortex spin on a ball, the wrist would only bend so far before the grip on the racket was compromised and the racket flew out of the hand.

For someone like Hikari, who was a master manipulator of spin, or someone like Tanegashima, who could neutralize spin, the shot could be returned. For people like Yukimura and Tokugawa who didn't have Hikari's and Tanegashima's abilities, they had to come up with a unique way of taking on the situation.

Tokugawa's solution was to brace his racket with his whole forearm, rather than hold it with just his hand. Yukimura's solution was to bypass the whole affair of catching the ball with the gut of the racket and instead used the base of his grip to return the ball. Both had come up with great ways of combating the shot, and fought a good fight. Hikari was proud of her friends. But no matter how hard they fought, they still lost.

Something Hikari wasn't surprised to see.

"With this, the U-17 Pre-World Cup match of Germany vs. Japan...ends in Germany's victory with 2 wins and 1 loss!" the announcer called.

"For all the praise you gave them, they still lost. I was expecting more from them than that." Damen remarked.

Hikari gave a curt laugh that made him look at her. She was shaking her head as she looked up at him, a smile on her face.

"You just don't get it." she told him.

"Explain it to me then." Damen huffed, feeling like he should be insulted after hearing Hikari's amused tone.

"They may have lost this time, but it just means they'll fight harder the next time. This has only lit a fire under them. Listen to the crowd. They know talent and hard work when they see it." Hikari told him, gesturing around them.

Damen glanced around them. The crowd was going crazy, applauding the Japan team right along with the German team. Japan may have lost, but they were going to keep fighting on. Hikari knew they wouldn't give up and she was looking forward to seeing how they would evolve during the tournament.

Hikari's eyes found Tezuka as he gathered his bag to leave with his team. She was interested to see how he grew as well. She was upset and angry with him, but she was still intrigued with him and his tennis. It was a character flaw she was trying to deal with.

Or so she told herself.

"Come on. The Greek match will be starting soon." Hikari told Damen, turning on her heel to leave, grabbing her bag as she passed it.

Damen glanced down at the Japan team before following Hikari. Feeling like he was being watched, Tezuka glanced up into the stands. He couldn't find any familiar faces, but he just knew there had been someone.

But who?

The Japan team followed Byodoin from the arena. They had fought hard and had still lost. But that they had taken one win from the champs, was a good sign that they were on their way.

"With the German champs as our opponents, we got one win and two losses in the exhibition match. Though it was a crushing defeat...we were able to have a good warm up." Byodoin remarked.

The others agreed. They would get another shot. They would make sure of it.

"The Greek match will start soon." Shiraishi remarked. "Isn't Ri-chan's brothers playing?"

"They are. I want to go watch." Oishi said.

"I wouldn't mind seeing what we'll be up against with Hika-chan's brothers." Fuji said.

Duke turned to Byodoin. It wasn't just the middle schoolers who were curious to see how the two youngest Higarashi brothers played. The high schoolers wanted to see too. Byodoin wouldn't admit that he was a little curious himself. He agreed though.

They weren't the only team interested in the Greek match. Ryoma with his teammates showed up as well. Given that they had grown up around the Higarashi siblings, Ryoma and Ryoga were both interested to see how Haruhi and Shunsuke played in person. They were also pretty sure that Hikari would show up to watch her brothers and their team.

Also curious about the mysterious team that had managed to keep most of it's members a secret from everyone, the German team showed up to watch as well. All three teams took their seats, waiting for the two competing teams to show themselves. Tezuka watched the court, waiting.

Hikari had talked about her brothers and their careers very little. She had never actually gone into detail about their tennis styles or how good they were. He had never thought he would find himself in a situation where he would be possibly facing one of Hikari's brothers. Had it been Sosuke, or even Satoshi or Satsuki, Tezuka would have felt a little tense about the idea. Out of all of her brothers, Sosuke was the most intimidating. The man was always collected, always in control. From what Hikari had told him, Sosuke dominated the board room as CEO of his branches of their family companies and was just as dominating on the courts.

Yet Hikari had beaten all of them numerous times.

But that was only because she knew their tennis styles inside and out. Tezuka didn't have that kind of information and highly doubted that Hikari would give it to him. Even if he could get ahold of her. With Shunsuke and Haruhi, though, as the two youngest and, in Shunsuke's case, least mature-next to Hisoka who acted like he was three-Tezuka knew next to nothing. He was curious to see how they handled themselves on the courts.

As he waited for the match to start though, he found his gaze wondering the crowd, looking for a familiar head of white among the people. Surely Hikari, as their little sister and possibly their loudest supporter, would be there, cheering them on, hollering for their victory. But he saw no signs of the girl. Then again, he didn't expect for her to make her presence known to him. She had made it pretty obvious that she wasn't too pleased with him if her refusing to speak to him was any evidence.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The Under-17 Pre-World Cup Exhibition matches, Greece vs. South Africa will now commence!"

Tezuka focused on the court again as cheers went up from several sections as the South Africa team was introduced. In one section, Tezuka with several members of his teams, sat watching. Not far from them was the American team with it's captain, Ryoma, and Ryoga in tow, and just in front of them was the Japan team. Even members of others team like France were present. Everyone had heard of the Higarashi brothers and wanted to see two of them in action.

Not to mention wanting to get a glimpse of the rest of the mysterious team.

Tezuka just wished Hikari was there, that he could see her again.

"And next is the Greek team, lead by it's captain...Hikari Higarashi!"

Perhaps he should have been careful what he wished for.

END

Kyandi: And here comes the, "I knew it!" cheers.

Haruhi: I'm sure there were a few surprised people.

Shunsuke: Doubtful.

Kyandi: No one asked you, Negitive Nancy.

Shunsuke: Don't you think that's a bit childish?

Kyandi: Take this as childish, you whiny b-

Haruhi: Perhaps we should move on!

Kyandi: Oh fine. Everyone enjoy and review.

Haruhi: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Shunsuke: See ya!


	7. Greece Vs South Africa

Kyandi: Hey everyone!

Shunsuke: We're back.

Kyandi: And after the last chapter, guess who is going to be joining us...that's right!

Hikari: Hello, everyone! Long time, no see!

Kyandi: I guess I didn't do a very good job with suspense, since all of you pretty much already knew Hikari was going to be in one of the teams. I suck.

Hikari: I highly doubt any of them are disappointed. I am your main character.

Kyandi: True.

Shunsuke: Can we move on now?

Kyandi: Yep! Everyone enjoy and review.

Hikari: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 7 Greece Vs. South Africa

The announcement had several boys on different teams choking on drinks or sputtering as the smoke screen over the Greek team's entrance parted and out stepped Hikari sporting the Greek team's hooded jersey. Smoke curled around the girl as she slipped through it, waving it away from her face. Tezuka shifted forward in his seat, unable to believe his eyes. She had done it once again. Hikari had managed to weasel her way into another boys sectioned, tennis event. But that wasn't what really caught him.

So much had changed in the short time they had been apart.

She wore the hooded jersey of the Greek team, standing out in stark white with sky blue stripes in the form of the Greek flag. It was left open over a form fitting tank top of the same design, solid blue tennis shorts, and white sliders. She wore a blue headband today, _Higarashi_ stamped across the length of it. The same bandages were still in place on her left arm and leg. Her hands were jammed into the jersey pockets and she walked with a straightness to her back that she hadn't had even when playing the company face of the Japan branches of her family's companies.

Her shoulders were set back and squared, her chin raised in defiance and challenge, and her eyes set only on what was in front of her. There was a distance in her expression that Tezuka had never seen. Her silver eyes were narrowed, the white lashes casting shadows over those expressive eyes. Tezuka stared at that closed off face for the longest second of his life, before he finally realized her biggest physical change.

Her bangs still curled in around her face, shorter now than the last time he had seen her, but the back of her hair was currently spiking away from her head. She had completely done away with the rattail and he wasn't sure how to feel about the short-as-a-boy's hair-do. And she obviously hadn't bothered with trying to get the back of her hair to lay flat on her head.

Tezuka could still see the chain that suggested that she was wearing her mother's locket and as the girl made a gesture with her left hand, her father's watch winked in the sunlight.

Typical Hikari.

Her ears had acquired another piercing and she looked taller than she had before he had left Japan. But what had changed the most, was the look in her eyes. There was something more...fiery, determined, than he had ever seen before. There was no smile on her face and there was now a scar over her left cheek that hadn't been there when Tezuka had last seen her.

Among the Japan boys, Sanada frowned when he saw the scar. It was in the exact same place as where he had accidentally hit her with his racket during their Doubles match with Tanegashima and Omagari. It made his feel bad that the hit, though accidental it had been, had left a scar behind.

Silence probably would have reined in the arena if not for the Greek cheering section who would have drowned out even the German supporters. Among the closest section of that cheering squad, Tezuka could make out two of Candyce's older brothers, the two louder than ten people combined. Shunsuke had said that Candyce's little brother, Teal, was playing for the Greek team.

Behind Hikari came her brothers...and Candyce and Starlit.

Candyce, though she had exchanged her cowboy boots and western clothes for sneakers and her Greek uniform, still had her battered Stetson nestled among the cropped off, blonde curls of her hair and a wide grin on her sun-kissed face. She had taken off a considerable length of her hair. It had gone from mid-back length to shoulder length. The cropped off tank top she wore under her jersey show cased a glittering piercing in her belly button. Her green eyes winked with wicked humor as they scanned those watching them from the stands.

Starlit too had gone through a change. She had a small Jolly Roger tattoo just above her cleavage, her jersey thrown over one shoulder to show the pale red, tribal tattoo that now wrapped around her right bicep. Her silver hair was still chin length, her black eyes still as uninterested in what was going on around her as they normally were. Her shorts were still super short, her skin still it's sun-kissed bronze, and her Italian features still sat in a bored, indifferent look.

Behind Candyce and Starlit came Candyce's little brother, Teal, with his shaggy black hair and bright blue eyes, his expression stoic compared to the grinning one on his sister's face. He slapped a hand to his face in embarrassment when his brothers hooted from the stands, cheering their little brother on. Beside Teal was the boy, Pharlos, who had showed up at the lottery drawing with Shunsuke, the high schooler, Aetos, on his other side. Both Greek boys had their sharp features get with determination, though there was a grin on Aetos' face.

After them came Toyuri and Aluri.

Toyuri, with her massive amount of dark, rich purple locks and equally purple eyes, was bouncing on the balls of her feet as she walked beside her best friend. She had added white low-lites to her hair, managing to bring out the rich purple of her hair even more. Her dark toned skin still matched Tanegashima's and there was a cheerful grin on her face. She looked almost overcome with her excitement of being there at the tournament and wore her jersey open over a white sports bra.

Aluri's long, fiery red hair still played home to a baseball cap, but she had traded the over-sized, baseball jersey for her Greek tennis uniform. She now bore the French royal coat tattooed over her left collar bone and her green-yellow eyes twinkled with amusement as she watched her best friend bounce along beside her. She seemed more amused with Toyuri than excited about where they were.

Behind them, mixed in with other Greek boys, was Rea, Leyko, and Maya.

Rea still wore her naturally red high-lited blonde hair pulled back into a high pony tail, her red-purple eyes set forward, rather than focusing on anyone in the stands. Where she usually wore military dog tags around her neck, she now wore them tattooed around her right wrist. She had traded her military, camo fatigues and lime green tank top for her tennis uniform.

Leyko, the bouncing red haired, purple-pink eyed, middle schooler, now bore flaming yellow and bright, neon green streaks in her red hair, a pin in the shape of the logo of an American band called R5, holding back part of her hair. She wore her Greek tennis uniform, but she had added lime green, sky blue, and pink spotted yellow knee socks to the mix, heart shaped earring hanging from her ears. She was a bright, colorful whirlwind that had the endless energy of an energize bunny.

Even Maya had added a change to herself. Her dirty blonde hair now bore the bright coloring of pink-and-black, zebra print streaks that matched the zebra print sliders and bracelet around her left wrist. She always had claimed herself to be a zebra, proud of her German and Mexican mixed heritage. And now she was showing it, though, at the moment, she was busy trying to get Leyko to calm down and stop bouncing around.

Right after them came Demetria and Zeoni.

Zeoni stood out among her paler, female friends, but among the dark skinned, Greek boys, her dark, melted chocolate skin wasn't too unusual. Her coal black hair was pulled back, a blue ribbon tying it in place. Her unusual blue eyes, which stood out among her brown eyed family, matched the ribbon. Her left ear now bore two new piercings, one in the lobe, one at the top, with a tribal dragon earring lacing through one to lace through the other.

Demetria, ever the drama queen who prided herself on her appearance as much as her tennis, had cut off her pale blonde hair so that it sat evenly at chin length in a standard page boy. Her blue eyes and face were perfectly made up with water proof make-up, and she had her chin thrust into the air with pride, as she usually did. When she caught the eye of some people, she threw her nose in the air and flipped her short hair. A feat only she could accomplish.

The Duffmeyer twins, Elona and Elana, came after them.

At first glance, nothing about the twins had changed. Elona, the tomboy, still wore her ice blonde hair cut short, her pale purple eyes matching her twins. Elana, the girly girl, still wore her hair long and curling. Elona wore her sister's favorite color in the form of a purple stoned ring on her right pointer finger, while Elana wore her sister's favorite color in the form of a blue beaded necklace around her neck. The change they had added, was revealed with the two spotted some fans staring at them with their arms linked, and stuck their tongues out at them, showing off twin tongue piercings.

Bringing up the rear was Tatlyn and Narako.

The fiery tempered, foul mouthed Narako, as normal, didn't look too happy, her maroon colored eyes narrowed, but she never really did. Her fiery, red dyed hair had acquired navy blue tips since she had been in Japan and the ripped off sleeves of her jersey revealed a neon green "AJ" tattooed on her right bicep with gray smoke tattooed around it.

Tatlyn, on the reverse side of Demetria's hack job, had let her hair grow out, the red-brown hair now falling just past her shoulders with a streak of pale brown added to the left side of her hair. Her moss green eyes were still lost behind blue rimmed glasses and she was still so awkward, she stared down at her feet the whole time.

Each girl had changed something about her appearance, but Tezuka only noticed Hikari. He had a bad feeling about the changes he saw in Hikari, not to mention that if she was on another team from him, if she wasn't at his side...then she was against him.

And that wasn't a position he wanted to be in.

Tezuka's eyes latched on to Hikari, his jaw tightening. He had been half surprised, partly concerned, and partly relieved when Oishi had called him and told him that Hikari had left the camp. He wasn't exactly sure when he had started caring so much about Hikari's well being. He had had no problems bending to her will and allowing her to play against the vice-captain of a team that was known for violence, back in their first round of Nationals. Nor had he stopped to overly consider her well being before he suggested she take Fuji's slot against Kirihara in Regionals.

She had been a strong choice than, just another player on his team capable of handling the match given to her.

But now he cared.

Now that they were facing harden pros known to the world as the next generation of pros, he cared very much!

Hikari, even with her tolerance to pain, could be hurt. She had already had to have another surgery on her back after Nationals. He knew for certain that the German team was ruthless in seeking a victory. Hikari was facing challenges harder then the Jr. Pros and their middle school Nationals. But now, watching her as she lead her team onto the court...Tezuka felt his heart give a painful thud in his chest. Especially when she would not glance his way nor acknowledge his existence.

"For those of you who don't know, this year's Greek team is the first team with not only mixed nationalities, but mixed genders ever allowed in the U-17 World Cup." the announcer said as the rest of the team joined Hikari at their bench.

All of Hikari's male friends were shocked. They had expected her to show up at the tournament simply because her brothers were playing on a team. They hadn't expected her to leave the Japan team to go and join another team entirely. Though, now that they were thinking about it, it made her actions back at the camp, make sense.

Ryoma left his team, approaching the wall over the Greek team's bench. He leaned over it to look down at Hikari.

"Higarashi."

Hikari looked up at Ryoma as her team got settled. She had ignored the roar of laughter from the South Africa team and some of the fans when they had seen that not only did the Greek team have girls on it, but that the team was being led by a little girl. She was still ignoring them as she looked up at Ryoma.

Tezuka watched from his seat as Ryoma said something to Hikari that made one side of her mouth scrunch up in annoyance. She replied back to him, her hands going to her hips. Ryoma shrugged, said something quickly and left to return to his team. Hikari's eyes narrowed as she shook her head.

Beside her Leyko almost died of laughter. Hikari shot her a look that had the girl scrambling to the opposite end of the bench, climbing over others until she was sitting in Maya's lap, her arms wrapped around her best friend's neck. Maya sweat dropped and pat her head while others laughed. With that done, Hikari turned to a few of her teammates that were asking for advice.

In seconds she had her data log open in her hands, flipping through the pages.

Tezuka scanned the whole team. He had no doubt that Hikari had chosen each member of the team carefully. She would have comprised her team to have a variety of strength, speed, agility, technique, and mental prowess. The team would have been pieced together carefully, each player playing off others' low points. She would take no chances when deciding her team. His eyes finally landed on Hikari again, who currently had her head together with Maya, who had left Leyko on the bench, Toyuri, Rea, and Haruhi. Starlit and a middle school Greek boy stood just behind Toyuri as Hikari talked.

The six were talking at lightning speed, Shunsuke leaning in now and then to add his opinion with a seriousness Tezuka had never seen in the Higarashi male. It seemed Hikari had gotten him to take something serious for once. Hikari finally gave a curt nod and the small group broke up, Starlit moving to Candyce's side to pass on a message while Toyuri filled in Aluri and a few of the others, Haruhi explaining to their male teammates.

Hikari stowed her data log back in her bag and twisted to pop her back.

"The first match will now start. J. Yeboah/M. Okotie-Eboh verse Maya SanCarlo/Toyuri Kamegane."

Toyuri took a springing bounce onto the court, her jersey flying out behind her. Maya had to scramble to keep up with her. Leyko leaned against the low wall separating their team bench from the court and cheered for Maya, waving her arms like a lunatic. Starlit seized her by the back of her shorts and yanked her back onto the bench. Candyce, unconcerned with anything, sank back in her seat, propping her feet up on the wall and pulled her Stetson down to cover her face like she was about to take a nap.

Hikari on the other hand, stood at the low wall, watching the four on the court with sharp eyes. She wouldn't miss a thing and everything she did see, would then be commited to memory and later written down in detail in her data log.

Toyuri and Maya met the two South Africa players at the net. One of them Yeboah, made a remark in English when the girls held out their hands to shake hands. The two males laughed and Maya, self-consciously, dropped her hand to her side, diverting her eyes to her feet. Toyuri folded her arms behind her hand, swinging her racket idly. She made comment back at the boys that had Maya raising a scandalized look at her partner as the boys' jaws dropped. Toyuri turned on the spot, laughing. Maya looked from Toyuri to the boys before hurrying after her teammate.

Toyuri, though taller, took the front court, bouncing on the balls of her feet, while Maya took up the back court. Those who had previously been on the Rikkai Dai team, knew that Maya was a defensive Counter Puncher, and the back court was her normal placing. That meant that, more than likely, Toyuri was a Serve and Volley player, use to playing in the front half of the court.

"One set match, Greek service play."

Maya took a deep breath, trying to tune out the jeers and remarks drifting from the South Africa bench. Maya bounced the ball and tossed it into the air. Toyuri was humming as she bounced and leaned to the left at the last second, allowing Maya's serve to fly over her shoulder. Okotie-Eboh returned the serve, but Toyuri moved fluidly into place, set up to hit a volley. When Yeboah moved to catch a volley, Toyuri lobbed it instead. Okotie-Eboh smashed the lob, but Maya was waiting for just that. Shifting her weight back when she caught the ball on the gut of her racket, she followed with the power behind the smash, turning it in her favor.

The shot rocketed past her opponents, hitting the baseline and not bouncing. Toyuri turned to Maya, a grin on her face. She gave a cheer and Maya smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. The first game passed the same way.

"1-0, SanCarlo/Kamegane pair."

Toyuri threw herself at Maya, catching the younger girl around the neck and spinning her around. Maya protested, but it feel on deaf ears as Toyuri danced them about. Jeers rose from the South Africa team, but they did nothing to dim Toyuri's spirit. Maya, though, looked down at her feet, fiddling with her racket. Seeing this, Toyuri-being the mature seventeen year old she was-stuck her tongue out at them, pulling down the lower eyelid of her left eye with her middle finger. Maya scolded her for this, but Toyuri just giggled.

At the Greece bench, a few of Hikari's teammates, Shunsuke included, slapped hands to their faces. Hikari didn't seem too fazed by the actions of Toyuri. Her eyes were even set on her players, but their opponents.

"They really shouldn't jeer. It'll only set Toyuri off."

Tezuka turned at the sound of the voice, his nearby teammates turning too. Tezuka looked up the lanky form of none other than Higarashi Hisoka. The second oldest Higrashi brother was standing next to him, his hands in the pockets of his neatly pressed slacks, the sleeves of his green, button down shirt, folded up to his elbows. His tie was worn loose, the end of it shoved into the breast pocket of his shirt. Eyes only a few shades off from Hikari's beautiful silver ones, turned to look down at Tezuka. Tezuka noticed idly that Hisoka wasn't speaking Japanese or English, but German.

It was probably where Hikari had picked it up from.

"Hisoka Higarashi." Tezuka greeted.

"Kunimitsu Tezuka. It's been a while. I believe the last time I saw you was your National Tournament back in Japan." Hisoka said in greeting.

"It was." Tezuka agreed.

"Yes, I remember. My sister ended up under a surgical knife after playing the match **you** set for her in the finals." Hisoka retorted.

As if Tezuka didn't already feel bad about that, Hisoka was pouring salt on open wounds. He had known a few of Hikari's brothers blamed him for additional surgery to Hikari's back, but he had thought Hisoka would be one of the few that would pardon him. He had always been a laid back kind of man, not easily angered or annoyed.

Hisoka surprised him then, by patting him on the shoulder.

"Relax, kid. Hikari doesn't blame you and neither do I. Now Shunsuke on the other hand...it's in your best interest not to run into him alone at this tournament. He's almost as bad as Hikari about revenge." Hisoka told him, smiling down at him.

Tezuka would definitely be watching his back around Shunsuke. Shunsuke could be laid back, was normally a player and more interested in having fun, but when it came to his sister and his temper...Hikari was the only person Tezuka had met that could rival Shunsuke in fierceness.

Hisoka's eyes then turned to Volk who had been watching the exchange closely.

"Ah, Volk! It's nice to see you again. It's been a few months, hasn't it? That tournament a few months back was the last time I saw you, was it not? You beat Haruhi pretty thoroughly." Hisoka said.

Volk nodded, his eyes shifting between Hisoka and Tezuka.

"You know Kunimitsu." Volk stated, rather than asked.

"Yes. He was the captain of the middle school tennis team my sister played on until recently. Peculiar thing, my sister. She insist on playin against males or not at all." Hisoka remarked, shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands in a "What can you do?" gesture.

A grin spread across Hisoka's face as he looked down at Volk and Tezuka.

"I feel that might be the fault of my brothers and I. Our mother passed away when she was such a little girl. She's had nothing but male influence in her life. So we might be to blame for that obsession." Hisoka said with a chuckle.

Tezuka had a feeling that even if Hikari's mother had lived to see her only daughter today, Hikari still would have grown up the way she was. Fighting the best, proving a girl could stand just as high as males, was the very reason Hikari breathed. Or so it seemed. It was so ingrained in her, that Tezuka was sure she had been born ready to take on males, head first if she had to.

"She'll just fail and get hurt." Sigfried remarked, ever the pleasant person.

Hisoka just laughed. Out right, bursting forth before he could stop it, laughing. He obviously found true amusement in that comment. Tezuka understood why too. Hisoka always found amusement when someone doubted Hikari could do something. They had no way of knowing that by doing that, they only made Hikari try harder just so she could look them in the eyes and proudly state she had proved them wrong.

"See, that's the thing about my sister. The more you tell her, she can't do something, the harder she's going to try just to prove you wrong. She likes to stick it to people that way. Doesn't like being told she can't do something a male can. It just makes her want to crush you even more. And with the extent of her knowledge on everyone around her...you'd do best to keep your mouth closed around her. Just ask this fellow. He knows first hand." Hisoka replied, patting Tezuka's shoulder.

Tezuka pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew all too well about Hikari's habits. About her vengeful streak and her need to prove everyone that appearances, and gender, had nothing to do with skill and hard work. Yes, she was small, and yes, she was a girl, but she was just about as helpless and weak as any of the boys there. She carried her own weight and made her own way, and she would be damned if she accepted a helping hand if she absolutely didn't have to.

"Speaking of which, you, my young friend, are in for a world of hurt the moment she faces you on the court. And she's gearing up for that." Hisoka said, looking down at Tezuka.

Tezuka turned his attention back to Hisoka, blinking up at him. Hisoka crossed his arms loosely, eyeing the boy.

"You severely slighted her when you left Japan. I don't know how, she doesn't share, and quite frankly...I don't care to know. The point is, I've never seen that girl more determined in all her life and she's made it clear that you, and you alone, are off limits to her teammates when they finally face you. And they will. You know Hikari's pension for revenge."

So Hikari was furious with him. And she was seeking his head for it. That did absolutely nothing to make Tezuka feel better. Just the thought of all the forms of revenge Hikari could take out on him made him a little sick to his stomach. He still hadn't gotten over the heel thing from the last time she had gotten revenge on him for something.

"Notice anything different about her? Aside from the severe hair cut." Hisoka asked, gesturing to the court below.

"The look in her eyes." Tezuka replied.

"Exactly. She's hell bent, my friend. She wasn't even this determined when facing Hikaru and not only was he, her biggest milestone, he had her undivided attention. The inconceivable hurdle to which she measured everyone around her and everything she did. The sad thing is...she wanted to go to Germany with you. Thought she could continue to better herself at your side since you had been such a big influence to her." Hisoka said.

Tezuka turned his eyes to Hisoka. He had completely forgotten about his teammates by now, even though they were still listening to the conversation.

"Now I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, like my older brother or Hikari, but I am still her big brother. I can put two and two together. You turned her down, didn't you?" Hisoka asked, looking Tezuka in the eye.

Tezuka didn't reply. Hisoka already knew the answer to that one. He knew he was right. Hisoka heaved a sigh, running a hand through his long and already messy hair. He then braced his hands on his hips and shook his head at Tezuka like he was truly disappointed in him. And surprisingly enough...that actually made Tezuka feel a tiny bit bad.

"All for the better, I suppose. Don't know how I would have taken it if you had taken off with my sister. Even **I** might have felt the need to skin you alive if you had. Doesn't make me feel any better about you hurting her, though." Hisoka remarked.

And that was exactly one of the reasons why Tezuka **hadn't** taken Hikari with him. He was all too aware of her brothers' opinions of him and only Haruhi, Hisoka, and Sosuke had good opinions of him. He wasn't sure how Sosuke would feel about him now, but he was pretty sure Haruhi would forgive all of his transgressions, whatever they may be. Haruhi was probably the only one of Hikari's brothers that would have given Hikari his blessing to leave Japan and travel to Germany at the side of her male captain. the others would have only gone alone with it because there was no controlling Hikari one she made up her mind.

And only after they had hunted down Tezuka like a dog and given him a once over both physically and verbally.

Just shy of thirteen she may be, but Hikari could already yank men around with just a tug of her pinkie finger. She would have just given her brothers a stern look and would have possibly gotten her way right then and there.

Even her uncle and grandfather failed to completely rein her in.

Hikari was a wild child with a prim and proper facade.

"Just watch her, though. Since you've left, she's busted her ass and has improved leaps and bounds. You know for a fact that she was already strong. Add in a determination of will to frighten even the most harden of men and you've got a little devil in sheep's clothing. And we all know that's not figuratively speaking." Hisoka told Tezuka, looking like he wanted to shiver at the idea himself

"She's just a little girl." Sigfried retorted, a few of his teammates agreeing.

"Doubting her ability is your first mistake, kid. If she sees that you do, she'll chew you up and spit you out **just** to make a point. Watch. She may be small and a girl, but that has nothing to do with skill and hard work." Hisoka told him.

"She always was a hard worker." Tezuka remarked, his eyes finding Hikari as she watched the match.

"Yeah, well...unlike the rest of us, she wasn't born with any natural talent aside from her insight and her ability to manipulate spin. Busting her ass is the only thing she could do to keep up with my brothers and myself." Hisoka said, looking down at his sister.

Down below, Hikari handed Maya and Toyuri water bottles as they stopped to get a drink. Hikari scolded Toyuri, not that it did any good. The older girl grinned at her and gave her a two fingered salute. Toyuri tossed her water bottle in the air as she turned to head back onto the court. Hikari caught it with a frown and took Maya's as the girl scrambled after Toyuri. Hikari sat the water bottles down and turned her stare, once more, on the two players opposite of Maya and Toyuri.

Tezuka knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that stare. It felt like she was looking right through him at the best of times. At the worst of times it felt like she was striping him down and thoroughly scanning every possible inch of him. A thought that made him feel exposed, embarrassed, and a little bit annoyed.

And that was Hikari in a nutshell.

She had a way of bringing out the worst and best in him at all times. As she did everyone. Sometimes he wasn't quite sure if she noticed the way she stared at people when she was observing them, or how uncomfortable she made them. Other times he knew for sure that she did and she was doing it on purpose, just to watch people squirm.

Him in particular.

"Her stats have increased lately, though, and she learned how to broaden her use of her ability to manipulate spin. Add in her ability to completely break down an opponent and their style, every shot they throw at her and every move they make, and she's become the bane to every tennis player's existence. I've gotten to where I refuse to play against her. She knows me too well and just creams me." Hisoka said, hanging his head with a sigh.

"You are the coach of her team. Don't you believe you are sharing this information too freely?" QP asked.

"Not really. This guy here can already tell you quite a bit about her. He was her tennis captain for about eight months. And if you'll research the records for the men's Jr. pro championships in Russia from a few years back, you'll find her pretty easily. She was a two-time Doubles champ at the age of eight. Find out all you want about her, it's not going to help you. She's too fluid with her tennis style, changing it to suit the situation or, in the case of Doubles, to suit her partner." Hisoka replied. "Not to mention that whatever you find out about her, she has about ten times as much information on you."

QP highly doubted the girl could have that much information on him. No one did. Tezuka, though, knew it was completely, and more than likely, possible. Hikari had her creeper moments in which she knew way too much about those around her.

"But it doesn't matter. Hikari isn't the only one you have to worry about on my team. Though understanding her and getting to her will go a long way to winning you any kind of competition with most of those on the team. Good luck with that though. My sister is an iron trap." Hisoka said with a shrug, before turning to Tezuka. "I just wanted to tell you to mind yourself, kid. You and I both know that she's all about retaliation and she'll be coming after you. Thought you could use the warning."

Hisoka pat Tezuka's shoulder before turning to walk away.

"Believe me...I know." Tezuka replied.

Hisoka waved over his shoulder to show he heard. Then, as if remembering something, he paused and half turned to look at Tezuka.

"Oh! One more thing. You might want to keep an eye out for her boyfriend too. He's not too awfully happy with your either."

With that Hisoka walked off before Tezuka could question him. Tezuka jolted, turning to stare at Hisoka's back as he walked away.

Boyfriend!?

Hikari had a boyfriend!?

Why did he suddenly feel like his stomach had bottomed out?

END

Kyandi: Take that Tezuka!

Hikari: I guess this means that it's official that Kazuya and I are a couple.

Kyandi: Yep! So all of you Tokugawa/Hikari shippers, rejoice. If someone wants to come up with a good shipping name for them, I would be so grateful and would give you a big shout out in my next chapter.

Hikari: I feel less like a person and more like an actual anime character.

Kyandi: Uh, Hikari...

Hikari: Yeah, I know.

Kyandi: While Hikari comes to grips with her existential crisis-

Hikari: I am not having an existential crisis!

Kyandi: -please review and enjoy. Hikari, the next part please.

Hikari: -mutter- Little pain in the back. -mutter-

Kyandi: What was that?

Hikari: Nothing. We'll be back soon.

Kyandi: Uh-huh...bye everyone!


	8. Girls in Action

Kyandi: And guess who's back. That's right! The always wonderful me!

Hikari: Are you purposely trying to sound narcissistic?

Kyandi: No! Just confident. I'm trying to be more confident in myself and I figure that if no one else will give me compliments, I might as well give them to myself.

Hikari: How is that practice working out for you?

Kyandi: Pretty good. I feel more confident.

Hikari: Whatever rocks your boat, I guess.

Kyandi: Hehe! Now I have some great news for all of you, but I'm going to wait until the end of the chapter to reveal it. So you must read!

Hikari: Oh! I know what you're talking about.

Kyandi: Good, then keep it to yourself. Everyone, enjoy and review.

Hikari: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 8 Girls in Action

Hikari was having to try her hardest not to turn and look into the stands and that was taking every bit of self-control she had. She didn't realize how hard it would be to appear on the court along side, not her males friends, but two of her brothers and her female friends. And with that realization came the one that she was actually playing on a team with her brothers. Usually she played against them, not with them. It was a change she was still adjusting too.

But not as big of a change as it was for Shunsuke, who was having to take orders from her as his captain. Haruhi didn't mind. Then again, he never really did. He knew when it boiled down to it, the choice of captain had been between Hikari and Candyce. When this had been pointed out at the meeting to decide captain, everyone had instantly agreed that Hikari was the better choice.

Candyce, while brilliant on the court, was too laid back to take the job seriously. She wouldn't have taken it as anything more than a game and would have lead them all to defeat. Hikari on the other, was goal oriented and brilliant both on and off the court.

Well...as long as public displays of affection weren't involved, that is.

But yes, she was a little demon of a captain, and yes, her idea of punishment for misconduct was harsh by several of their standards, but she only did what she thought was best for the team and their success.

Which, most of the time, was pretty accurate.

She never pushed any of them further than she thought they could go, never gave them work, she didn't think they could handle, and never did anything that could physically or mentally harm them for life. So demon or not, she was a good captain. She knew what they had to work on, what was best for each of them, and was devoted to making them all better.

Candyce, plain and simple, just didn't give a crap.

Hikari, though usually diligent, was finding it hard to concentrate when she knew, for a fact, that both Tezuka and Tokugawa, were watching her from the stands. She hadn't talk to Tezuka since he had left, had terminated the service of her cell phone, just so his name would quit popping up on her screen. She had no doubt that Oishi, or one of the others, had told him about her leaving the camp, but she was sure he was still surprised to see her.

What she would have given to see his face the moment he heard her name and saw her.

The only people who had known about her going to Greece and running the Greek U-17 team, was those on the team, Hisoka, and Damen. She had not said a word to her remaining brothers, her uncle, her grandfather, or even her boyfriend, Tokugawa.

Hikari felt her cheeks heat with that last thought.

Boyfriend.

She still couldn't believe that that was what he was to her. After Tachibana, she had gone out on one date, with Yukimura, but she hadn't really considered having another boyfriend. Then there had been Tezuka. Just the thought of the male made her want to deflate. Not that she did. She kept her back straight and her shoulders squared. She would not outwardly admit he had hurt her. No way. She had Tokugawa now.

**He** would support her no matter what.

Hikari clicked her tongue sharply when Toyuri, goofing off as she always did, missed a return and Maya had to recover it, almost losing them a point. Hikari had warned Toyuri to not goof around too much. She wanted their team to be counted among the best. That meant winning their matches without giving up a single game. Just like the Big Four.

They could do it. Against South Africa, Hikari had no doubt that they could do it. She had researched the members of the team thoroughly. When compared to the stats of her own team, South Africa just fell too short to really give them that much of a hard time. Hikari had hand picked each member of her team for a reason.

Unknown to her friends from Seigaku, every free weekend she got a chance, every holiday when she wasn't with them, Candyce had been flying Hikari to Greece to pick, train, and build up their team. And when she wasn't there, Candyce and Starlit would train the team. Aside from the girls, Teal, Shunsuke, and Haruhi, Hikari had to go through dozens of boys to find those with true skill and talent. To find those who truly worked hard, who would work well with the part of her team she already had, and those who could look past their pride and realize that Hikari, though small and a female, actually knew what the hell she was doing.

Pharlos had been the first one she had found. The boy had questioned her at first, which Hikari understood, but one match in which he lost to her, and he was on board, simply because it meant he could learn from her, better himself. His eagerness to improve and learn was something Hikari admired about the boy. That, and he was willing to take her advice with a puppy-like wonder that sometimes made her feel like **she** was the older one.

Was it really a bad thing if that kind of went to her head?

Next had been Castor, another middle schooler like Hikari. Hikari's eyes found the boy at the opposite end of the team bench next to Starlit. His dark skinned, lithe form was sprawled out, his long legs stretched straight out in front of him. His black hair was a mess about his head and looked as if it hadn't been brushed. Which was probably the case. His golden eyes were half lidded, watching the court idly. There was an aloofness to the boy that made him seem like he was never really there or just didn't care.

Hikari knew better. Castor was sharply cunning. His tactician skills were almost better than hers. He was unconventional in how he approached just about everything, but managed to make it work. What's more...the boy **didn't **give a crap. When it had been revealed that she was the one in charge and that half of the team's spots have already been taken by girls, he had simply shrugged it off with a, "More power to you.". As long as he got to play, he didn't care who with or who was in charge.

Hikari had instantly liked him.

He kind of reminded her of Ryoma, though only a little.

There was just Castor's little masochist problem.

For doubles, Castor was commonly paired with more aggressive, bold players, like Rea or Starlit. In Starlit's case, she had to completely control the pace if she played doubles. Meaning, she had to completely control her partner. While it was usually rather comical for others to watch Starlit, literally, kick Castor around and Castor not only take it, but take it with a grin, it was nothing short of embarrassing for Hikari and her teammates. But it worked, so Hikari couldn't really say anything against it.

Aetos came next. He was a little harder for Hikari to deal with. Mostly because, despite knowing she had a boyfriend, he flirted with her every chance he got. Starlit had given him a round of knocks to the head for it, but he just kept coming back for more. She would give him points for persistence at least. Not that it did much to endear her to him. Despite his...character flaw, he was a hard worker and his persistence carried over onto the court, unless he got bored. No matter how much he got knocked around, he kept coming back.

Like a yo-yo.

An annoying yo-yo, but a yo-yo who knew what he was doing.

Oh how that yo-yo got on her nerves.

The remaining eight players had come just after that, each with their own skills, something about them that had set them apart from the rest in Hikari's eyes. The others, Hisoka, all of their sponsors, trusted Hikari's opinions. She had yet to be proven wrong about a player. So it wasn't a long stretch to say that she had hand picked each member of the team. She had a strong team in her opinion. She needed a strong team if she wanted to face the German team and take Tezuka on head first.

With that thought, Hikari got the annoying, little urge to turn and search the stands for Tezuka. She was sure he was there somewhere, with his team, watching her. She could feel his eyes on her. Or, at least she felt like she could. She ignored the urge though. She needed to appear professional in front of these teams. Hikari knew that if they saw one opening in her facade, they would jump in and rip her apart. There was no time for petty drama.

On court, Maya winced as she returned a heavily hit ball that made her wrist ache. She was able to gain the point, but had to shake out her hand afterward. Toyuri approached her, her purple eyes falling to Maya's wrist.

"A heavy ball, huh?" Toyuri asked.

"Yeah. Even playing with Rea to try to get use to it, my wrists aren't quite up to par just yet." Maya reply.

Toyuri's hands went to her hips and she glanced over her shoulder at their opponents. She hummed to herself as she thought. Which was a rare thing where Toyuri was concerned, since the girl made it a point not to really over think anything. Once she seemed to have made up her mind, she turned back to Maya.

"That was hit by Yeboah, right?" Toyuri asked.

Maya nodded, giving her racket a flip in her hand to make sure her grip hadn't loosened after taking the hits. She looked up when Toyuri slipped an arm around her shoulders, leaning in close.

"Listen. Leave Yeboah to me. Hikari said he's weak with net play, right? Well, we'll give him no other choice but to play at the net, facing me. You take care of his partner, what's-his-name, then. Alright?" Toyuri suggest.

"Right!" Maya replied, with a firm nod.

Toyuri gave her shoulder a pat and the two broke apart. Though Toyuri was usually an air-head with nothing in her head but pranks, boys, snacks, boys, tennis, and, oh yeah...boys, she could be considerate of her partners.

Unless she was bored.

Then there was no way to get the girl to take anything serious.

Toyuri, like she said she would, took all the heavy balls. After spending most of her life playing tennis with Aluri, Toyuri was use to returning shots with power behind them. Aluri could be a little over bearing in her shots when she was excited or having fun. Toyuri taking over those shots, left Maya to better handle the other shots that made it past Toyuri.

When first paired up, Maya and Toyuri hadn't mixed. Toyuri was too hyper, too everywhere, and Maya was too meek and easily pushed around. Many would think that after dealing with Leyko most of her life, Maya would be able to handle Toyuri. But that just wasn't the case. Hikari, though, saw the potential the two held. Toyuri, though usually all about herself, was overly considerate of her younger teammates. She simply just didn't want to be known as the bad sempai. It led her to over compensate. Something that could be used against her if she let it.

But with Maya, who was naturally on the quieter and meek side, it worked. Especially since Maya was a defensive player with a cast iron defense and Toyuri was a flexible, active player with a nearly unshakable mental state. Pretty much everything just washed right over Toyuri. Hikari would say it was like water breaking over rocks, but over time, even the sturdiest of rocks were chipped away by the water and Toyuri never chipped.

The girl was just too oblivious.

The two worked though. Hikari had seen to it, working the two together as often as she could, as long as she could. The final result of all that hard work?

Toyuri and Maya won their match, 6-0.

With Maya's solid defense and Toyuri near impossible flexibility which allowed her to return even impossible shots, their opponents just couldn't keep up.

Hikari glanced at the rest of the South African team and then at the crowd seated in the seat above them. Stunned and shocked looks were reflected back at her no matter where she looked. Were they all really that shocked that two girls had won the match and seemingly effortlessly?

Apparently so.

It made Hikari shake her head. They would all learn by the time this tournament was over. They would see that gender held no sway over true talent and hard work. Something Hikari was trying to personally prove to Tezuka. Everyone would see.

Higarashi Hikari was not going to roll over and play dead for anyone!

That went double for her team.

"We will now proceed with the second round of the U-17 Pre-World Cup Exhibition match between Greece and South Africa." the announcer called.

Hikari turned to her teammates. With a jerk of her chin, she summoned the next two players from her team. Starlit rose to her feet, reaching out and snagging Castor by the collar to yank him to his feet. The male stumbled to his feet, staggering as Starlit dragged him out on to the court. He managed to catch the racket thrown to him by Teal. None of the team were surprised to watch Starlit forcibly drag the boy. If her partner didn't move as fast as she wanted them to, then she always dragged them, no matter who they were.

"LaGarza/Boulos pair vs. Steyn/Vassar pair. South Africa service play!"

Starlit pushed Castor towards the net to take his position. Castor went without complaint. Of course he didn't complain. The little masochist. Hikari shook her head as she watched the match. People thought she was a masochist for all the times she simply took a beating in a match just to prove a point or to gain a piece of information but the big difference between Castor and Hikari, was that Castor could actually feel the pain. Hikari only feel a dull sensation. She couldn't even really classify it as pain. Just a very mild discomfort.

So out of the two of them, Castor was the masochist, not her.

On the court, Castor wasn't in the exact position Starlit wanted him in, so the girl yanked one of her shoes off her foot and threw it at the boy, hitting him square in the back of the head. Castor sucked in a hissing breath and crouched down, clutching at the back of his head. Getting hit with a normal shoe would hurt anyone, but all of the girls on the Greek team, including Starlit, wore specialized shoes with weights in the soles.

Several of the others on the Greek team hissed in sympathy and Leyko even grabbed her own head as if it ached in sympathy for Castor. Hikari heaved a sigh as she watched Starlit march across the court in one shoe, to stand over a crouched Castor, her dark eyes narrowed. Castor peeked up at her with one tear filled, golden eye.

"That's the wrong position, _monello_." Starlit barked, using the Italian word for "brat".

"Sorry." Castor replied in heavily accented English.

"I swear. It's like you want me to beat what little sense you have out of that thick skull of your's. Learn your place." Starlit told him sternly.

Hikari and Candyce, having know Starlit the longest, knew that despite sounding like a royal, rhymes-with-witch, Starlit actually had a bit of a soft spot for Castor. It was just that the boy sometimes drove her up the wall. Kind of like a little brother. Despite having a younger brother already, who was more than a handful for her. It was because of Starlit's fondness for Castor, that she pushed him a lot harder than others. Like she did with Hikari.

Though, even Hikari had to admit that throwing a shoe at him was going a little too far.

Starlit stuck her shoe-bared foot out to Castor then, her hands on her hips, demanding he jam the shoe back on. Castor snagged the shoe and slid it half way back onto her foot. Starlit took over from there, pulling it fully on while using Castor's head to keep her balanced. Hikari didn't even want to think about how big of a joke they looked to other teams as they watched Castor basically play slave and stepping mat to Starlit. She was sure of one thing though.

It was going to be a long day.

END

Kyandi: Sorry it took so long to write this but once you all hear the announcement I have, you'll understand.

Hikari: Should I tell them, or will you?

Kyandi: ME!

Hikari: Then get to it.

Kyandi: Alright! Everyone...I have recent made a deviantart account and will be posting hand drawn pictures and full bios of my OCs!

Hikari: Mine is already up.

Kyandi: Hehe! I would have told all of you sooner, but I wanted it to remain a surprise until Hikari was at least completed. So everyone go to tezzymoon. deviantart .c o m and check it out. Just remove the spaces and copy and paste.

Hikari: You might get to learn something about me that you never knew.

Kyandi: Right! So everyone, enjoy and review.

Hikari: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	9. Three Strikes

Kyandi: Hello, everyone. I'm back!

Hikari: She's been torn between stories lately.

Kyandi: I have, but I finally finished this chapter.

Hikari: And your other news?

Kyandi: Oh! Right! For those of you who are following my deviantart account for the pictures and bios of my OCs, I just posted Candyce Engles' bio and picture.

Hikari: She would love it if you all would go and check it out. She's under the screen name TezzyMoon.

Kyandi: And don't forget to tell me what you think. As for this chapter, everyone enjoy and review.

Hikari: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 9 Three Strikes

By the time Starlit and Castor had snagged the first two games from under their opponent's nose, Hikari was sure they were the laughing stock of the whole tournament. Starlit dominated the court with her aggressive baseliner style. Her shots were bold, powerful, with lots of speed. If someone took a wrong step and took one to the ribs...Hikari had seen Starlit break many of her opponents ribs with her shots. But Starlit's one weak point was...she didn't bother with technique or accuracy. She had an eye for picking out other's weaknesses and hitting them hard enough and fast enough that she didn't need either to break through.

Normally, not being a team player, Starlit wasn't Hikari's first choice for Doubles. It was like putting Ryoma in Doubles. It just didn't usually work because she didn't like sharing her court with anyone else. Hikari had found, though, that with Castor, she wasn't as stingy about it. Castor, with his sharp mind and attention to small details, complimented Starlit well.

But that did nothing to mask Starlit's tendency to throw things at Castor or to hit him with a served ball whenever he messed up.

Usually that resulted in Castor spending a good amount of the match, clutching his head. Hikari was surprised Starlit hadn't given the poor boy brain damage.

"Get it right, _monello_!" Starlit yelled, whacking Castor in the head with her racket as they stopped on the side lines to get a drink.

Hikari heaved a sigh and pushed herself to her feet. She was suppose to be captain, which means only she would put a stop to this. It was so strange, after so long of answering to Tezuka as a captain, to suddenly find herself in the captain seat. Hikari walked up to Starlit, snatching the racket from her hand as she pulled her hand back to wack Castor once more. Castor flinched, but nothing hit him. Starlit looked at her empty hand and turned to Hikari, but came a screeching halt when she saw the stern look on Hikari's face.

It still amazed Starlit at how much of a backbone Hikari had grown where she and Candyce were involved. Use to be where Hikari was too scared of them to say a word against them. Recently, Hikari had really blossomed into her own, even standing down Candyce when everyone was pretty sure...Candyce still terrified the hell out of Hikari.

"Enough hitting him. You're going to give him brain damage at this rate and the boy needs every brain cell he has. It's his one redeeming point." Hikari told Starlit sternly.

Starlit stiffened, still not use to having to take orders from Hikari, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. She had found out, very quickly, about Hikari's pension for brutal and unusual punishments when it came to being disobeyed. Starlit had assumed it was something Hikari had picked up in Japan. It kept everyone in line, at least. Even Candyce and Starlit avoided getting in trouble if possible. So Starlit kept her mouth shut. She threw Castor a look and the boy flinched and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Shape up, _monello_." Starlit told him, grabbing his nose instead of hitting him.

"Ow, ow, ow! That's my nose, Star! I only have one!" Castor complained, a shiver going down his spine.

"Did stop making mistakes. I can't cover for you the whole time." Starlit told him.

Hikari heaved a sigh. She was going to have to be more detailed one what Starlit could and couldn't do to Castor. Starlit would find a loop hole some other way. Hikari reached out and swatted Starlit hard across the chest. Being a girl, that was probably the most painful spot on the body to hit. Starlit winced and released Castor. She shot Hikari a glare but the glare Hikari returned was far more intense and could melt steel. Starlit let her hand drop to her side. Hikari glared at her for a moment longer before turning to Castor.

"Castor, you need to watch your right side. You're letting them slip past you and if Starlit has to keep covering for it, she's going to end up putting you in a head lock right there on the court. And I assure you, you won't like it if she chokes you to death." Hikari told him.

Another shiver went down Castor's spine, but this time, his tanned face had drained of all color. Hikari knew she had gotten through to him this time. As much as like the pain and dominance, the idea of being choked to death didn't sit well with him.

"I got it." he replied.

"Good. Now go. No more throwing things at him, Starlit." Hikari told the older girl.

Starlit growled lowly in her throat but didn't argue. She turned on her heel and headed back onto the court. Hikari handed Starlit's racket over to Castor as he rushed to follow her. He went scrambling away from Starlit the moment he handed over her racket, as if she was going to wack him with it. Starlit frowned and continued to yell at Castor for any and all mess-ups he made, but she didn't hit him or throw anything at him.

Hikari wondered how long that would last. Starlit wasn't known for her patience with continued screw-ups. A few times she could forgive, but when a person continued to make the same mistake, she quickly grew fed up with it. Something Hikari could understand to a point. Castor though, after Hikari said something, didn't make the mistake again. He watched his right side and started pulling his weight. Starlit managed to calm herself and get into the groove of the match after that. When they finally managed to link up, the two were unstoppable, managing to effortlessly snag a complete 6-0 victory.

In the stands, Tezuka wasn't surprised to see how easily Hikari's team was taking the victory. Hikari did everything with a reason. She wouldn't have paired Starlit and Castor if they couldn't take the win. He was surprised to see Starlit back down from Hikari.

Yes, Hikari could be scary with her punishments.

And yes, Hikari had a stare that could creep anyone out.

That being said, he didn't know Hikari to be overly assertive. Perhaps that was because he had been captain and she had to let him call all of the shots. Now, she was her team's captain and he was seeing a whole other side to Hikari. It wasn't a bad side. He had always wondered how Hikari would handle it if a whole team relied on her to lead them. She had handled the training regiment side of management when he had been away for treatment for his arm, had supported Oishi as he lead the team, but this was all her, all the time.

Tezuka shifed forward, resting his elbows on his knees when the next match was called. Volk could see the interest in Tezuka's eyes as he looked down at the court.

"We will now proceed with the third and final round of the U-17 Pre-World Cup Exhibition match between Greece and South Africa." the announcer called. "Aetos Argyros/Hikari Higarashi pair vs. Odili/Turay pair. Greek service play."

Tezuka watched as Hikari walked out onto the court, stretching her arms out behind her as the tall Aetos followed behind her, completely at ease, hands jammed into his pockets. Laughter rung out from several players from other teams that sat in the stands, watching the match. They laughed about how a small, tiny girl like Hikari thought she could play with big boys. Every single player in the stands that had played with or against Hikari, knew better. Small or not, Hikari was no push over.

"Kunimitsu."

Tezuka turned his attention from the court to Volk. The older male was watching him closely, his eyes shifting down to Hikari once he had Tezuka's attention.

"How good is she?" Volk asked.

"Higarashi, in the time she was on my team, only lost one match, and that was to me." Tezuka told him. "She is fast and flexible, but it is her eyes that are the true threat. Higarashi can completely break down a player's style and shots, copy them, even improve them, and use them against her opponent. She only has to see the shot once."

"Her eyes are that sharp?" QP asked.

"She is the best data collector I have ever met. And the most detailed. The amount of information she can obtain is...frightening." Tezuka replied, fighting off a shiver at the thought.

On the court, Hikari and Aetos met there opponents at the net. It was easy to tell, even from where Tezuka sat in the stands, that the two South African players were mocking Hikari. Aetos folded his arms behind his head, looking bored with the insults, and Hikari just stood there, as if unfazed by whatever it was they said. Tezuka knew better. Hikari may not react to the insults, would even smile in their faces, but she never forgot a single insult flung her way. She would only use that as fuel for her fire.

To the shock of her opponents, Hikari simply gave them a polite bow and turned on her heel. Covering a yawn with one hand, Aetos followed her. A brief word passed between them as they walked and with a nod from Aetos, Hikari took the back court, setting herself up for the serve. The stance she fell into was one Tezuka knew well. She stood with her right side facing the net and crossed her arms over her chest, her left over the right. She held a ball in the left hand, even with her face and her racket in the right, even with her hip. She then crossed her right leg over the left.

Hikari focused her eyes across the court and, with a spin of her fingers, dropped the tennis ball. She didn't bother watching the ball as it fell. By this point, she probably had the timing completely down and just knew when to swing. When the ball fell even with the bottom of her ribs, her body moved in one fluid motion. Her right foot slid out in a semi circle and her right arm swung out. She caught the ball on the gut, letting it roll along the face of the racket before bouncing it off the end.

The result was a wildly twisting, unpredictable shot that seemingly spun out of control, twisting and swerving this way and that. It was so fast, it whipped between the two South African players before they could even began to track it. It slammed into the court right at the South African baseline before twisting upwards and slamming into the wall with enough power to crack it. There the ball stuck, spinning rapidly in place.

"The Hurricane Serve." Tezuka said lowly, watching as Odili and Turay turned to stare at the ball lodged in the wall with shock clear on their faces.

"That serve...the spin is so strong that it adds power to the shot." Volk remarked.

"She's probably the only one that know how the shot will twist and where it will hit." QP added thoughtfully. "It would be a tricky shot to return."

"I haven't ever seen anyone return her serves. As far as I know, her service games have gone unbroken." Tezuka replied.

"Is that so..." QP mumbled, staring down at Hikari.

Sure enough, the first game flew by without a single one of her serves being returned. Aetos got to stand there in the front half of the court, arms folded behind his head, yawning now and then as he waited for the first game to fly by. Hikari said something to Aetos who waved her off in a bored fashion. Hikari heaved a sigh and shook her head. If she had been a more spiteful person, like her friend Narako, Tezuka might have been able to see her serving a ball right into the back of Aetos' head.

But Hikari wasn't **that** spiteful.

The next game started with Turay's serve. The boy served the ball, the ball heading right for Aetos who...leaned to the side, letting the ball fly right past him. Hikari tsked under her breath as she moved to return the shot, sending it back the way it came, the ball flying right over Aetos' shoulder. Odili returned the shot and yet again, Aetos leaned out of the way, making Hikari have to return the shot. Hikari moved across the court, though, with all the ease she always did, her steps light and graceful, like a dancer's. She added a little spin to the ball and when Turay tried to return the ball, it suddenly swerved in the opposite direction, claiming the point for the Greek team.

"Aetos, what are you doing?" Hikari demanded of her partner.

Aetos grinned at her. He spread his hands out as if he was completely innocent and had pure reasons for what he was doing. Hikari was naive enough to believe it.

"Come now, Princess. I'm just giving you a chance to shine." Aetos told her.

"Stop playing around, Aetos." Hikari told him. "And stop calling me that."

"Should I refer to you by one of your other names? Perhaps Silver Siren will make you feel better." Aetos teased, his voice loud.

"No. Never that." Hikari replied sharply. "Stop with the ridiculousness and take this seriously."

Aetos turned his eyes up to the crowd, searching the face until he found the members of the Japan team. A grin curled across his face, as if he was saying to them, "She's one of **us** now.". Hikari snapped her fingers, bringing his attention back to her. She gave him a look to peel paint and Aetos shivered.

"Got it." he told her.

Despite agreeing to stop playing around, he did very little to appear serious. He returned his shots like he was suppose to, but would miss one now and then to cover a yawn. Hikari never missed a beat, though, and always caught the shots he missed. It allowed others a look at how adept she was at covering for her partner, but, to Tezuka, it almost looked like she was down playing her abilities.

Finally, Aetos yawned widely, stretching his arms above his head. He turned away from the net, walking past Hikari. He even reached out to pat her on the head, but Hikari raised her racket, stopping his hand. He let it slide and continued on past her to the baseline.

"What are you doing?" Hikari asked, her left hand going to her hip.

"I'm tired. You wrap this up, Captain." Aetos told her over his shoulder.

He dropped to sit at the baseline, heaving another yawn. Hikari heaved a sigh as she watched him. She knew, when the urge to sleep came over him, that Aetos never fought it, but this was ridiculous.

"You don't sleep on the tennis court." Hikari told him.

"I am now." Aetos retorted, flopping back onto his back and folding his arms under his head.

Hikari turned to her bench, giving Candyce a "Can you believe this" kind of look. Candyce shrugged her shoulders. Ever player had their quirks. Aetos was that he could be extremely lazy when he wanted to sleep. Hikari's eyes rose to the heavens as if she was praying to the gods to grant her some patience with her teammate. Instead of arguing with Aetos, she simply turned away from him to take up the battle alone. Her opponents laughed at her but Hikari simply ignored it.

She didn't have time for trash talking at this point.

She took a deep breath and shut out all noise around her. She needed to focus, pick out weaknesses, observe and analyze. Then when she knew everything about her opponents, she needed to plan and plot. They would not escape her eyes. Her eyes were her pride and joy. She would not allow anyone to escape their sight. Not now, or ever. She was done being looked down upon. She would show them that Higarashi Hikari was to be taken seriously.

The change came over Hikari quickly. She went from pleasantly indifferent looking to down right serious in the matter of breaths. When she focused her eyes on her opponents, both got chills down their spines. It was like looking into two bottomless pools of molten silver that were just beckoning for a person to lean too far forward and drown. As if her eyes were the tools of sirens from Greek myths, beckoning men to their doom.

The name Silver Siren hadn't been too far off the mark.

Tezuka had had that look turned on him enough time to know the feeling. He had thought, there before the Japan U-17 camp, that he had started to get good at turning the tables on her and doing the same thing to her. He had felt that he had gotten good at reading her too.

Now he wondered if he had been horribly wrong.

Despite it being two-against-one, Hikari handled herself like an expert. She had the advantage since she pretty much could tell what they were going to do. There was no fooling Hikari's eyes when she was on alert and actively looking for mistakes. Every time Turay or Odili returned a shot from her, she was already in position to receive the ball. It was like watching a dancer as they moved across their stage. Every step, every move, was with perfect grace and elegance. It was that reach alone that so many of her nicknames had to do with royalty.

Her feet moved in constant steps, her weight balanced on the tips of her toes. Game after game, no matter the shot the two South African players threw at her, Hikari prevailed. Aetos must have seriously gone to sleep because it took Hikari trying to shake him to get him up to take his service game. As soon as that was over, he was back to sleep on the baseline, making Hikari heave a sigh. It was during that sigh that she hadn't been paying full attention and Turay served a ball right into her turned cheek, knocking her off her feet. Groans and hisses of sympathy sounded from around the arena.

Aetos sat up, running a hand through his hair. He raised an eyebrow at Hikari's prone body, but didn't look all that concerned. Instead...he looked like he was about to laugh. And then he was laughing at her.

"His partner just got knocked unconscious and he's going to laugh?" Bismarck asked, shaking his head.

"Higarashi is fine." Tezuka told him.

"She took a shot to the face. I doubt that." Bismarck replied.

"Higarashi doesn't feel pain. Her pain receptors don't work properly." Tezuka explained.

As if on cue, Hikari shifted and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She got back to her feet, as is she hadn't just taken a hit to the face, and retrieved her racket from the ground. Turay and Odili's jaws dropped as they stared at her. Even the eyes of some of Tezuka's teammates widened.

"Higarashi was in a serious accident about three or four years ago and took a considerable amount of damage to her nerves. She doesn't feel pain like we do. She can crack bones, receive concussions, sprain ankles or wrist, and won't notice it." Tezuka said, watching as Hikari rubbed her face.

She had turned and was scolding a laughing Aetos who just couldn't seem to get his laughing under control. After a couple of times watching Hikari get right back up from a hit to the face or head, Tezuka and his former teammates had gotten to the point where they weren't all that concerned about her. Of course, they worried still. She was their teammate. Aetos, though, thought it was funny that she had taken the hit. Hikari finally heaved a sigh and just turned her back on Aetos, ignoring him. Tezuka was sure she would punish the guy later.

She easily took the first five games, and would take the last one just as easily. Tezuka knew that, everyone who knew Hikari, knew that. But Hikari decided to leave the other teams with a little impression of what they were going to be getting themselves into, going up against her. She had quite a few, new tricks up her sleeve. When the ball next came to her, Hikari took a stance Tezuka had never seen before.

She braced her feet wide apart, her right foot back. Her grip shifted on her racket as her hand went back. She closed her eye for a moment, taking a deep breath. When her eyes opened again, it was like her eyes had turned completely silver, right to the pupil. She focused in on the ball, everything else fading off into the background. To her eyes it was like time slowed and she could see the ball move slowly. When it reached the position she was looking for, she moved. Instead of swinging the racket, she caught the ball right in the middle of the gut, right on the sweet spot and rotated the racket, making the ball spiral out from the sweet spot, before letting it fly back across the net.

Turay and Odili froze as, with a snap, the ball flew towards them, looking like a shooting star to their eyes. Both took cover, fearing it would hit them. The ball hit the just inside the baseline, but didn't bounce. It just spun there rapidly, rising smoke as the surface of the ball rubbed against the court. When finally the spin stopped, Hikari blinked. The moment her eyes opened, they were back to normal and she stood up straight.

"Silver Star Shot...nice." Aetos remarked from where he sat.

"With this, the U-17 Pre-World Cup match of Greece vs. South Africa...ends in Greece's victory with 3 wins and 0 loses!" came the announcement.

Cheers went up from the Greek supporters. Aetos grinned from where he sat at the baseline, scratching the back of his head. Hikari turned, her eyes scanning the crowds as other people joined the Greek supporters in cheering. Tezuka didn't think she was looking for anyone. It was almost as if she was silently sending a message out to all the others teams currently watching. He watched as her shoulders went back, her back straightened, and her chin went up. Defiance blazed in her silver eyes as if she was saying, "Here I am...come and get me. I dare you.". She wasn't going to back down, no matter what the other teams threw at her. She was there to prove a point.

And prove it, she would.

-0-0-0-0-

Tezuka ran into his friends in the lobby, as he and his team were leaving to return to their hotel. He could see the concern on Oishi's face as he looked at Tezuka.

"Well, hot damn! Lookit who we have here."

Tezuka and the others turned. Stairs to their right lead up to the upper floors where the locker rooms were. Candyce stood there with a few of her other teammates, her Stetson back on her head and her cowboy boots back on her feet. She grinned widely when she saw Tezuka. Shunsuke came just behind her with a few of the others guys on their team. The moment he saw Tezuka, he begun to rush down the stairs towards him. Pharlos and another boy grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back.

"Let me go. I'm gonna cream him for upsetting her!" Shunsuke declared.

"Oh cool ya boots, Shun." Candyce told him.

Shunsuke shot her a blazing look, but she ignored him, waving a hand for Pharlos and the other boy to take Shunsuke away. They managed to drag Shunsuke down the stairs and towards the doors leading outside. Shunsuke muttered to himself as they did.

"Ignore him. He's done got his boxers in a twist. Ya know, I owe ya a big thank you, kiddo." Candyce told Tezuka as she bounced down the stairs.

"A thank you?" Tezuka questioned.

"Damn straight! If it hadn't been for ya pissin' Hickory off like ya did, she woulda never come back ta Greece with meh. Woulda been a cryin' shame if we had lost our cap'n." Candyce said stopping on the fourth to last step.

Her hands went to her hips as she grinned merrily at him. That made her the second person to say he had angered Hikari. Tezuka was really starting to see that he had screwed up big time.

"Candyce! Don't tell him that! Hikari will get angry." Leyko scolded as she came bouncing down the stairs, Maya on her heels.

She froze the moment she saw Marui. Her smile vanished and she instantly looked down at the ground. Maya half hid behind her the moment she saw Sanada. Rea, who stood a few step above them, turned her eyes away from the boys below, but she didn't lower her head. She just couldn't look Shiraishi in the face.

"Oh shoot, it ain't nuthin' but the truth! We all know-"

"Know what, Candyce?"

Candyce cut off and flinched at the sound of that voice. All eyes followed her gaze up to the top of the stairs. Hikari stood there where Haruhi on one side and Starlit on the other. A bandage was covering the cheek that had been hit in her match, but she didn't appear to notice. She was giving Candyce a hard look. Candyce grinned at her and spread her hands in a look of feigned innocence. A look she never could quite pull off.

"I didn't know ya were there, Hickory." Candyce said.

"Obviously. Why don't you try keeping things like that to yourself." Hikari told her as she came down the stairs.

"Hika-chan." Oishi said, smiling up at her.

"Oishi-sempai." Hikari said back in greeting.

"You cut off your rat tail." Fuji remarked.

"I did. Some jerk told me he liked my hair long so I chopped it off." Hikari replied.

Okay, blow number one. That one had hit Tezuka in the pride because he knew, without a doubt, that he was the jerk she was talking about. Even if she didn't look at him, he knew.

"Hika-chan, why?" Oishi asked looking at her.

Hikari glanced at him as she came to a stop beside Candyce. Many other boys from other teams had stopped to watch the confrontation. Even Tezuka's teammates were watching silently. Hikari had her hands jammed in her pockets, an indifferent look on her face.

"I never intended to stay in Japan, if that's what you're referring to." Hikari told him.

"You didn't?" Toyama asked.

"No. The whole time, I was only there for one reason...recon. My research showed me that if I wanted to improve my game, Japan was the country to be in at the moment. So, I moved there. I had meant to leave before I received the invite to the Japan U-17 camp, but I couldn't ignore Mifune-oji's request." Hikari repiled.

She sounded indifferent, uncaring, as if she didn't know that the truth hurt them. They had no idea that on the inside, it was killing her to play the bad guy. But they wouldn't play against her seriously, wouldn't go all out, if they continued to see her as their sweet, little friend. She needed to face them all at their best. Nothing less.

"So you just left for another team!?" Kirihara asked.

"How does that makes me any different from **Tezuka**?"

All of the boys fell silent and Tezuka felt like his heart that just dropped into his stomach. No longer did she call him Tezuka-buchou with a tone of affection. He was now simply Tezuka and she had said his name in such a flat tone. That was hit number two and it hit him in the heart.

"Believe of me what you will, but this was set in motion even before Regionals." Hikari told them. "Can you blame me for wanting to play against the best?"

None of them had an arguement for that one. Toyuri and Aluri came bounding down the steps then, Toyuri oblivious to the situation at hand. She was carrying a couple of drinks in her arms.

"Hikari! I got your drink!" Toyuri said, butting into the conversation.

She handed Hikari a can. Hikari turned the can over, scanning the nutrition box. She deemed it okay for her consumption, nodding once. Seemed she was still concerned with what she ate and drank. Hikari then turned the can back around to see what she would be drinking, and made a face.

"Green tea." she said lowly in a voice that made it sound like she was going to be sick.

"Something wrong with green tea? You use to like it." Toyuri asked.

"Green tea makes me sick to my stomach now." Hikari replied, giving it back.

"Ain't that because of an incident durin' the play at yer school's Culture Festival?" Candyce asked.

"Yes." Hikari replied.

And there was blow three. Tezuka was sure that they were referring to when he had to kiss Hikari for the play they were forced to take part in at Seigaku's last Culture Festival. Hikari, then, had commented on how he had tasted like green tea. He knew that was another blow at him. And with three strikes, he was done. It was official...Hikari hated him.

"Leyko, why did **you** come here?" Marui asked, looking up at his girlfriend.

He sounded so upset that Leyko hunched her shoulders and started wringing her hands together. Hikari glanced at her over her shoulder and turned her attention back to Marui.

"Don't get mad at her. I made her come. Her, Maya, and Rea all three wanted to stay in Japan, but they do as I tell them, when I tell them. So if you want to be mad at anyone, blame anyone, look no further than me." Hikari told him.

Though to some it might sound like Hikari was simply showing off how controlling she was over her teammates, her male friends knew she was simply standing up for her friends. She would rather have the anger directed at her than at others. Marui looked at Leyko, but she wouldn't look at him.

"As much as I'm sure you'd like to talk to them, we have a team meeting to attend to. Excuse me." Hikari said, stepping down the last few steps and leading the way past the boys.

Her teammates followed but Tezuka wasn't about to let this go just yet. He had something to say to her and he was going to say it.

"Higarashi-"

Hikari turned, her sharp look cutting him off. It was hard not to tell that she was angry. Candyce snickered and Toyuri said, "Ohhh, someone's in trouble!" under her breath.

"In case it wasn't obvious to you, I have nothing left to say to you. You think I can't hack it here with you big boys...well I guess we'll find out which one of us is right. Just know, **Tezuka**, that I will not go down without a fight and I'm not holding back. You better not." Hikari told him.

With that, she turned on her heels and lead her team away. Tezuka was so stunned that he couldn't say anything to stop her. He really had messed up big time and it caused his chest to constrict as he thought about it. He knew he shouldn't have said that to her. Now she thought he thought she was no good. He knew at that very moment, right then and there...

That he was screwed.

END

Kyandi: Tezuka's going to end up regretting the day he was born by the time we're done with him.

Hikari: Not that he doesn't deserve it, but...don't you think we're being a little hard on him?

Kyandi: You only say that because you loved him.

Hikari: I...uh..t-that's...I use the word "love"!

Kyandi: Then why are you red in the face.

Hikari: Moving on!

Kyandi: Hehe! It's so easy to tease you.

Hikari: You aren't that different. Should I start in with you?

Kyandi: I'm good. Everyone, enjoy and review.

Hikari: We shall return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


	10. Disbelief

Kyandi: Hey there, Kyandiacs!

Hikari: Wow, jumped right into calling them that and didn't even bother to explain.

Kyandi: Yeah, sorry about that. I jumped the gun.

Candyce: Damn straight.

Kyandi: I'll explain. My six year anniversary of writing on this site is coming up in a few weeks. Since some of you have been with me for that long, I decided you all deserved an honorary title. So from today on, you will all be known as Kyandiacs.

Starlit: You are so strange.

Candyce: We ain't one ta talk, Star.

Hikari: She's got a point.

Starlit: ...

Kyandi: It doesn't matter. I'm sure they're ready to get to the chapter.

Hikari: Probably.

Kyandi: So hop to it, girls!

Starlit: Please enjoy and review.

Hikari: Kyandi-sama does not own New Prince of Tennis.

Candyce: But she owns us!

Starlit &amp; Hikari: ...

Kyandi: They probably could have gone without the reminder.

Candyce: Hehehehe!

Chapter 10 Disbelief

"I can't believe she left us for another team."

Byodoin looked over at the middle school members of his team as they moped around the sitting room. All of them looked either depressed, still shocked, or even angry. Some felt betrayed, but all felt hurt and confused. Hikari had made it clear that she had never been on their side. She had only pretended to be. That being that, none of them could forget all the happy times they had had with her.

The times she had laughed with them, the times she had practiced long and hard with them, the hijinks she had gotten into with all of them, everything. She had put a lot into playing her part and more, in helping her team win every match they had gone into. She had pulled more than just her weight. Something wasn't fitting in right.

Byodoin had never liked the girl, but even he felt there was something off about this. Hikari didn't seem like the type to pull one over on others. Not like this, at least. Despite how much it annoyed the hell out of him, Byodoin knew Hikari to be an honest person. She was protective of her friends, was straight forward, and abhorred lies. She had chosen her words carefully when she had spoken to them after her match today. Even Byodoin had noticed that.

She hadn't said that recon was her **only** reason for being in Japan.

Something was definitely up.

Byodoin turned to Tokugawa then, since the other male had been the closest to her before she had left. If anyone possibly knew what she was thinking and what she was planning, then it would be Tokugawa.

"Did you know she was going to do this?" Byodoin demanded.

Tokugawa shook his head. He had known that Hikari was up to something. She was always up to something. The girl couldn't go one day without planning or plotting something. Even if it was just for her own amusement. If ever there was an evil mastermind bent on world domination...he could see Hikari playing that part.

But this?

No...he hadn't know.

Byodoin clicked his tongue when Tokugawa shook his head in answer. He had expected Tokugawa to know something. Hikari had to of given him some kind of clue or hint because it was obvious that she couldn't have Tokugawa hating her.

"Aren't you suppose to be her boyfriend or something?" he asked.

"Hikari does what she wants without anyone else's opinion on the subject. I have never, and will never, try to restrict that." Tokugawa replied.

"Wait, what do you mean, boyfriend?" Marui asked, looking at Tokugawa.

Tokugawa looked away from the middle school boys, refusing to reply. He and Hikari hadn't said anything to any of them about it when she had left. Hikari had insisted that her friends would just give him issues, especially since some of them had feelings for her. Tokugawa didn't feel it was anyone else's business if he and Hikari were together.

Especially since she was just shy of thirteen and he was seventeen.

Most people would look down on that, despite the fact that Hikari had the maturity of someone far older than she was. Not to mention, she looked older too.

"Hikari does everything for a reason. She has a reason for this, whether she wants to tell anyone else what it is or not." Tokugawa added.

His cellphone ringing cut off anything else anyone had to say to him. Tokugawa pulled the device out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Seeing who it was from, he flipped open the phone to check the text he had just received. Without another word, he got to his feet and excused himself. The others watched him leave, wondering where he was off to.

Byodoin had a good idea on who had messaged Tokugawa.

From the looks of the tiny smile curling the edges of Tokugawa's mouth, Byodoin had a feeling that the very girl they had been talking about, had called for her boyfriend.

And, of course, Tokugawa went.

-0-0-0-0-

Hikari glanced at her phone as it dinged. She grinned when she read the short reply from Tokugawa. After returning to the hotel room she shared with Candyce, Hikari had showered and changed. Ignoring Candyce and her cat calls, Hikari had headed back out, sending a message to Tokugawa to meet her as soon as possible after she had seen the chart for the matches. When he text back that he was on his way, she had told him to meet her at a fountain just outside the hotel she was staying in.

Message sent, Hikari slipped the phone back into her pocket and leaned back on her hands, staring up at the sky above. She hadn't been expecting to run into Tezuka so soon after showing that she was the captain of the Greek team, but it had felt good to take a little of her anger, hurt, and frustration with him out on him. She had loved the look of shock on his usually stoic face. It had been hard to keep her expression sharp when all she had wanted to do was laugh.

It would have ruined the moment if she had broken out into a fit of uncontrollable, not to mention undignified, giggles.

Besides, by the time the tournament was over, she was going make him realize just how badly he had screwed up. She was going to make him see just how badly he had hurt her.

No one told her she couldn't hack something.

"That's certainly a big grin."

Hikari looked up when the voice suddenly reached her ears. Her head turned until her eyes found Reinhardt, Kiku, Dudu, Ryoga, and Ryoma. Hikari, her legs stretched out before her and crossed at the ankles, turned her attention back to the sky. She heaved a large sigh as if put out. Though she didn't really have a problem with four of them, Ryoga was the last person she wanted to see right now. All he wanted to do these days, it seemed, was tease her. She could live without the teasing.

She got enough of it from her own teammates.

"I knew you couldn't stay out of a tournament this big." Ryoma remarked.

"Oh, like you're one to talk. You're a bigger nut job about tennis than I am. At least **I** have a reason for my madness. What's your excuse?" Hikari replied.

"That explains why I saw you at the camp in America." Ryoma remarked, approaching her and ignoring her question.

"Wait, what!? She was at our camp!?" Kiku asked shocked.

Hikari glanced at Ryoma, not really surprised he had caught sight of her. It usually surprised her, no matter how well she hid herself, that no one ever noticed a little white haired girl running around. After so many times of sneaking into schools and camps and not getting caught, it partly became a game to see if she could find anyone who would actually notice her. With his sharp eyes and his past knowledge of her, she wasn't surprised that Ryoma had.

"You were in our camp!?" Kiku asked, looking at her.

Hikari shrugged her shoulders, leaning back on her hands and crossing her legs. She turned her attention to stare in front of her. The expression on her face was one of boredom, as if the subject at hand was no big deal. And to her, it wasn't. It wasn't like their camp was the first, or the last, she had ever slipped into.

"What can I say? Every U-17 camp, no matter the country...has poor security." Hikari replied.

"You were always a sneaky little thing. Remember that time I caught you climbing counters to sneak into the cookie jar behind the old man's back?" Ryoga asked, a grin on his face.

"I was four at that time, Oga-nii, and there's one issue with that memory." Hikari told him.

"Which is?" Ryoga asked.

"I don't eat sweets. That was Hikaru, not me."

Ryoga scratched his head as he thought. Now that she mentioned it...it had been Hikaru. The boy had been unable to stay out of anything sweet, while his twin sister, on the other hand, detested sweets. The two really had been complete opposites while looking like the same person. And at four years old, it had been nearly impossible to tell the two apart. Even their parents couldn't tell them apart unless they got the two to speak.

No matter how hard they tried, Hikari couldn't manage her twin's overly cheerful speech pattern and he couldn't manage her more mature speech pattern.

"What are you doing here?" Hikari asked, dropping the subject.

Was it them or did she sound a little anxious to get rid of them?

"We could ask you the same question." Ryoga told her.

"You could, but the difference between us...is that my team happens to be staying in this hotel." Hikari replied, pointing to the hotel in front of her. "And I know your's isn't."

She had him there. Ryoga couldn't really argue with her on that. Then again, he could never really argue with her on anything. If it so happened that Hikari didn't know what she was talking about, she was a sore loser at being proven wrong.

"You're not usually this snippy. So what's the problem? Got a date?" Ryoga asked.

Hikari's cheeks flushed a deep pink, turning her face all the way to her ears, pink. She quickly turned her face to the side, trying to hide the blush, but they had seen it. The answer to Ryoga's question was obvious.

"That's none of your business, Oga-nii. Go away, please." Hikari said, adding the please just to be nice.

"You're not going to get rid of us that easily." Ryoga told her.

Hikari turned her eyes back on him and there was a sharp glint to her eyes that he knew all too well. One of her eyebrow rocketed up and she tilted her head to the side, adding a little innocence in to the sinister look. It was a combination that Ryoga had only ever seen her pull off.

"Oh? You really think so. Fine then. We shall see about that." Hikari said.

"What are you doing?" Ryoga asked as Hikari pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

Hikari held up one finger as she started tapping away on the keyboard, quickly. She hit send, flipped her phone close, and tucked it back into her pocket. She didn't say anything, just waited. When Ryoga tried to say something, Hikari just held up one finger, silently telling him to hold on.

Then they heard it.

"Hot damn, Hickory. Ya attract guys like flies."

The boys turned, finding Candyce coming their way with a bouncing Toyuri behind her and a smiling Elana bringing up the rear. Candyce glanced at the boys as she passed them, tipping her hat in greeting before turning to look at Hikari, waving her green, cowboy hat stickered cell phone in the air, the cowboy themed phone strap jingling happily.

"Ya called, Hickory?" Candyce asked.

"Yeah, I'm having a little trouble with Oga-nii here. Do you mind?" Hikari asked, gesturing to Ryoga with a jab of her thumb.

Ryoga pointed to himself, raising both eyebrow in surprise. Candyce turned her green eyes on him and a smirk curled her lips before her hands went to her hips. The look that overcame Candyce's face could only be described as that of a predator looking at it's prey.

"But why, Hickory? Ya got hot guys comin' knockin' and ya want me to run 'em off? You Japanese gurls are so strange." Candyce asked.

"They are cute, but they got nothing on my Playboy." Toyuri said.

"I suppose they're okay. I still prefer my Irie. He really gets my motor going." Elana added.

Hikari groaned, slapping a hand to her face and shaking her head. It seemed this was a conversation that happened a lot, even when Hikari didn't want it to.

"Focus girls." Hikari told them. "I'm kind of running out of time here."

Candyce gave her a sly smile and turned her attention back to the boys. One hand went to her hip and she flicked her hat back slightly.

"Ya boys heard her. Get along lil doggies and there ain't gonna be a problem." Candyce told them playfully.

It was so easy to tell that she was hoping, praying, that they would argue with her. She was on the prowl for a challenge and hot guys. It would just make her day if she got both in one go.

"It's "there will not be a problem". Can't you speak proper English. You were raised speaking it." Hikari grumbled.

"Potato, tomato." Candyce replied, waving a hand.

"That's not even how that saying goes. I'm Japanese and I know that!" Hikari complained.

Candyce looked over her shoulder at Hikari, her hands going to her hips. She raised an eyebrow at Hikari.

"Who was the one that grew up in America?" she asked.

Hikari frowned in answer to the question. Satisfied with the frown she had managed to put on Hikari's face, she waved a hand at Hikari, as if shooing her away.

"Now get along. He ain't gonna wait up for ya." Candyce told her.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Hikari muttered, getting to her feet.

"Higarashi."

The moment Hikari heard **that** voice call her name, she groaned.

"And they keep coming." she muttered as she looked up to see Tezuka coming her way.

From the way Hikari instantly puffed up, her shoulders going back and her body snapping taunt, it was easy to tell that she was gearing up to take another bite out of Tezuka. Tezuka could tell just by the way her eyes flashed as he neared them. Candyce looked over her shoulder at Tezuka.

"Uh-oh...we're about ta have a lotta trouble, gurls." Candyce said lowly, before turning a serious look on Reinhardt. "Ya might wanna leave. This ain't gonna be purdy."

The closer Tezuka got to Hikari, the more she tensed up, ready to rip him to shreds verbally. Of course she would never actually, physically, harm him. No matter how angry she was with him, she couldn't bring herself to hurt him.

She cursed her foolish little heart.

When Tezuka was about four yards short of her, Hikari opened her mouth to unleash her blade-like tongue. Thankfully, before the first word could even tumble free of her mouth, yet another person arrived on the scene.

"Hikari."

The moment that voice reached her ears, it was like all the tension in her body melted away. Tezuka watched as her expression softened before she turned to face the male walking towards the group. Tezuka knew that look all too well.

It use to be directed at him.

He turned to see who had taken his spot in Hikari's eyes, his eyes landing on Tokugawa. The high schooler stopped at the edge of the courtyard where they all stood, his sharp eyes scanning over everyone present. His eyes stopped for a moment on Ryoma, giving the boy a nod in greeting before he turned his eyes to Hikari.

"Hikari." he called again, leaning his head to the side as if beckoning her to join him.

A smile fell on Hikari's lips and without another glance at the others, she took off to join Tokugawa, greeting him with a big smile on her face as she fell into step beside him. Tokugawa had a small smile on his face as he looked down at her. As he turned to follow Hikari, his eyes flicked to Tezuka, harsh in their stare. It was obvious he didn't like Tezuka. Hikari tugged on Tokugawa's arm, pulling his attention back to her. With that, the two took off.

"And it's the boyfriend to the rescue. You got off lucky." Elana said, looking at Tezuka.

Tezuka glanced at her before turning his eyes back to the retreating forms of Hikari and Tokugawa. So that was the boyfriend. Tezuka felt a burning in the pit of his stomach as he watched Hikari smile at Tokugawa. It was his own fault things were the way they were, but it didn't make him feel any different.

Candyce glanced at Tezuka before turning to Ryoga, her hands going to her hips as he grinned at her.

"Ya just gotta tease her, don't ya?" Candyce asked.

"She's easy to tease." Ryoga admitted.

"Maybe, but ya gotta stop, for your own good. In case ya haven't noticed, she's a lot more tense lately. She'd bite your head off in two seconds flat if ya don't leave her alone." Candyce told him, shaking her head.

"Gee, I wonder where she learned that." Toyuri sang, Elana coughing and saying Starlit's name at the same time.

The two broke into laughs as Candyce grinned widely. Candyce's green eyes landed on Reinhardt next, making the male raise an eyebrow back at her. Especially when her grin took on a more flirty kind of look.

"You're Ralph Reinhardt, right?" she asked.

"I am." he replied.

"Hickory's told meh all about ya." Candyce remarked.

Reinhardt looked at Ryoma in questioning.

"Hickory is Higarashi." Ryoma replied.

Nodding in understanding the American captain turned his eyes back to Candyce as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And what has she told you?" he asked.

"All sorts of things. Ya should never doubt what Hickory can dig up on ya. But, if our teams meet on the courts, Hickory's already got meh pinned to take ya on, big boy. She seems ta think that you'll be the type to completely engage meh on the court. I can't wait ta see what ya bring to the table." Candyce said, leaning towards him to stare straight up into his face. "Make it worth my while, heartbreaker."

With that, and a sultry grin and a wink, Candyce turned on her heel and headed back for the hotel. Toyuri and Elana, snickering the whole way, followed her. The boys watched them as they passed Tezuka, Candyce casting him a fleeting glance and Elana and Toyuri giggling at him as they walked past.

"Leave it to Ri-ri to team up with someone like Candyce Engles." Ryoga remarked.

His brother agreed with him. Looking at the friends that Hikari had had since she was really little, it was easy to tell what had happened to make Hikari like she was. It was a mix of really weird and out there friends that seemed to make it their lives' goal to stick it to every male they came across.

Tezuka, though, was busy staring off the way Hikari had vanished with Tokugawa in tow. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling right now, but it was burning through his chest and making him feel slightly annoyed at the moment. It was in that moment that Tezuka finally realized what was going on with his own feelings.

He liked Hikari.

As in "love".

And now it was too late to do anything about it. He had hurt Hikari and she had moved on from him. Despite the fact that he really should be focusing on his tennis career at the moment, he just couldn't leave things as they were. He knew, deep down, that completely letting Hikari go...would be the biggest mistake of his life.

He was going to have to do something to correct this whole mess.

But the question was...what?

-0-0-0-0-

"Kazuya, is something wrong?"

Tokugawa looked up and across the small table he sat at, to look at his girlfriend. Hikari sat across from him, an ice tea in front of her and her head tilted to the side as she looked at him with a worried look on her face. He wasn't usually one to butt into other people's business, but he couldn't help but ask his next question.

"What were you doing with him?" he asked.

"Who? Tezuka?" she asked.

Tokugawa nodded. The moment he had seen the other male, he had instantly felt the need to sweep Hikari up and get her as far from Tezuka as possible. Tezuka had already done enough damage. He didn't need to deal anymore.

"I was waiting for you when Ryo-chan and his teammates showed up. I was talking to them with Candye, Elana, and Toyuri when he showed up. He had only showed up mabye a minute before you did." Hikari told him truthfully.

Tokugawa nodded. He had no reason to doubt that was what had happened. Hikari wouldn't lie to him. Not to mention that after seeing the way she had treated Tezuka when he had approached her after her exhibition match, he had no doubt in his mind that she didn't want Tezuka around her.

"So...what was this about taking part in a Pick-Up Contest?"

Tokugawa's head came up to look at Hikari as the girl leaned back in her seat, eyeing him. It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about. Then he remembered. When the members of the Japan team first arrived in the country, they had held a Pick-Up Contest on the beach to see who could pick up more girls, the high schoolers or the middle schoolers.

Tokugawa should have known it would get back to Hikari. Even if he had been made to it, Hikari couldn't possibly be pleased with her boyfriend picking up other girls. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to her since he was sure that she didn't want excuses.

"Well?" Hikari asked.

There was nothing he could really say or do, so he just got straight to the point. Bowing his head to her...he apologized. For a moment, there was only silence...and then he heard a laugh. Raising his head, he found Hikari smiling and trying to hold back her laughter.

"You don't have to apologize, Kazuya. I trust that you would never do anything." Hikari told him.

"You're teasing me." Tokugawa stated.

Hikari clapped a hand over her mouth as she laughed again. That, right there, was more of an answer than her flat out admitting it. When she moved her hand and just merely smiled at him, he was one hundred percent sure that she was teasing him.

"Can you blame me? You make it too much fun for me. You know I'm only playing with you, though, and it has to be better than the monster jealousy fit that most girlfriends could have thrown in my position." Hikari told him.

That was true. If there was one good thing about Hikari, it was that she wasn't ever really all that irrational in their relationship. She understood that he was older than her, considerably, and that he was a good looking young man. Women were drawn to him and he couldn't help that. She also understood that he was faithful and would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship.

Not to mention that she knew that he was well aware that if he did do anything...she would end him in every way of the word.

While Tokugawa cared for Hikari...he also somewhat feared her. Hikari, even only at twelve, was not someone to be messed with. She had the power, influence, and crafty mind, to make anyone regret having ever met her.

"How did you find out?" Tokugawa asked.

"There are a few of those among your team that feel the need to inform me of anything you're doing, just for kicks. Several of them called Haruhi, who told me." Hikari replied.

When Hikari had cut off her phone, outside the members of her Greek team and Hisoka, only Tokugawa had been given her number. Since no one could reach Hikari, they had called her youngest and oldest brothers, who Hikari was the closest to. Sosuke, who didn't have a way to contact her, couldn't help them, but Haruhi had been with Hikari.

"That reminds me," Tokugawa said, reaching for his teacup. "Why did you change your number and only give it to me?"

"It was part out of necessity, part whim, and part being spiteful." Hikari replied.

Tokugawa raised an eyebrow, looking over his teacup at her as he took a drink. He gave her a questioning look that she returned with a sheepish smile.

"Tezuka's name kept appearing on my screen. For someone who left **me** behind, he sure tried hard to get in contact with me. So I cancelled that number. I knew if I gave my new number to my former teammates, they would have given it to him. So, I changed my number and only gave it to you." Hikari explained.

"And now he's here..."

Though most people wouldn't have heard it in his voice, let alone seen it in his face, Hikari could tell that Tokugawa wasn't happy about Tezuka being around her. Reaching across the table, she laid her hand on his and gave him a smile when he looked up at her.

"Don't worry. I don't have anything to do with him now. He's somewhat smart...he'll pick up that I don't want to talk to him and will stop trying to approach me." she told him.

He hoped she was right. Though, if his instincts about Tezuka were right...he doubted Tezuka would give up. The boy seemed to be slowly coming to realize how much of a treasure he had lost in Hikari.

"Anyway, we have something else to discuss." Hikari said, sitting back in her seat.

He knew exactly what she wanted to talk about.

"The first match." he guessed.

"Yeah. You saw the chart, right?" Hikari asked.

"Before I left."

"Japan verse Greece. We'll be going up against each other in the first round." Hikari said.

"If not now, then it was bound to happen as long as our teams kept advancing." Tokugawa told her.

"True. No hard feelings no matter how the match turns out?"

"Of course not."

Hikari smiled brightly. He could agree that he wouldn't have any hard feelings, but when it came to his teammates...that was a different case. Several of them had played with or against Hikari. They knew that she was crafty and that they, apparently, didn't know half of what she was capable of, but she knew all about them. It was a match that seemed a little stacked against them.

But that was when the members of the Japan team thrived.

Whatever happened in the match, Tokugawa and Hikari was determined not to let it get between them.

Now it was just getting through the match.

END

Kyandi: And he finally figures it out!

Hikari: The thick jerk...

Starlit: How long have you been in love with him?

Hikari: ...

Candyce: She ain't gonna answer.

Kyandi: Of course she won't. But now it's going to be Tezuka verse Tokugawa. I'm excited.

Hikari: Of course you are.

Candyce: It's gonna be a hoot and a half!

Hikari: Why has my love life suddenly become everyone's entertainment!?

Kyandi: Because I made it so. Anyway, I have other stories to get to, so wrap it up, girls.

Candyce: Please review and enjoy!

Hikari: We will return as soon as possible.

Starlit: See you.


End file.
